Sick Pilot causes cancellation of flight?
 

Scheduled to go BOI-MSP-FLL tomorrow (2/12) to get on a cruise departing Miami on Friday. Got the dreaded automated call tonight that one of our flights had been cancelled. But no, not weather related. The BOI-MSP flight is cancelled because a crew member called in sick (that's my understanding based on the codes the agent was reading to me when I asked her why it was cancelled).

That's all it takes to cancel a flight? There's no relief that can be brought in so that the flight at least goes out at a later time? Doesn't seem plausible to me.

Of course, with the weather in the East, they couldn't rebook us on anything. The only option they came up with was protecting us on United to get in to FLL at 3:50 on Friday. Our ship sails out of Miami at 4:00.

At least I was able to book us a on Southwest to get in to FLL late Thursday night, as long as those flights aren't cancelled.

Happens all the time. People are only human and sometimes the way staffing models work there may be another person available but there could be higher priority flights. DL operates on a least effect possible type system so they consider how the event will ripple and where the other pilots need to be.

I'm assuming BOI isn't a base so there aren't pilots sitting at home on call. Most likely they'd have to scrounge one up from a base. Depending on equipment and weather, it may not be possible to get someone up there (given ATL canceled 2,200 flights tomorrow).

Usually in this situation, they deadhead a pilot up on the next available flight (on any airline) to continue the flight. That's a whole lot cheaper than canceling a flight. I'm guessing w/ the weather there are hundreds of pilots in the wrong place, timed out due to delays, etc. Unlike a lot of professions they aren't allowed overtime.

The cancelled flight is a Compass E170 that departs at 5:45 am. Highly unlikely they could get someone in on such short notice; the closest Compass pilot is probably in SFO or SLC. BOI is not a Compass base.

Something is not right here. First of all, kudos for booking your travel earlier than your embarkation date. As someone that works 2-3 weeks per month in FLL/MIA area, I cannot tell you the number of panic stricken pax I have seen that book their air the same day as their cruise. Leave a cusion. You did that.....

Seeing that you left a 2 day cushion, I would think DL would/should/could accommodate you sooner than Fri and especially in a situation where you would miss your cruise. I am not an expert at the fine print in the terms and conditions for air travel but one would think you could have connected in SLC or SEA sooner than Friday. It seems they did not try very hard to adjust and react for you.

Also, did you consider driving the 5 hours to SLC as an offer to Delta? Certainly BOI is a tough reschedule but SLC is a hub and they would be able to get you routed somewhere, even with a couple of stops.

I did do some checking and while I could get you from BOI-SEA (via SLC) I cannot find a flight from SLC or SEA to MIA, FLL or PBI today, tomorrow or Friday. Unreal.

OP needs to work the computer himself/herself while continuing to call DL. Look for flights from DTW or MSP to Florida. In addition to BOI-SLC-SEA, consider connections through LAX, SFO, PDX, etc. Even if a lot of segments are involved, a routing that avoids ATL and the east coast is worth trying. It also seems to me that getting out of BOI as soon as possible would be a smart first step.

Try very hard to avoid checking bags.

OP here. Delta finally got us book on a flight on AA/US leaving tomorrow afternoon. BOI-PHX-MCO gets in late Thursday night.

I couldn't find anything better than connected on the same itinerary. So, instead of hoping the BOI-PHX-MCO works (and driving from Orlando to Miami). I booked my own outbound. BOI-LAS on Southwest today. Then LAS-MIA direct today on AA. Gets us in to Miami tonight, stays away from the East coast, and should work. I'll then have Delta cancel the outbound portion of our original ticket. Costly, but worth it to make a charter cruise we've been planning to be on for a year now.

To the original posters, my primary question concerned the cancellation of the flight versus the postponement of the flight. I realize there's no relief crew in Boise. Just seems like a drastic step to cancel the flight versus postpone. What do they do with the extra plane in Boise now?

Funny thing: we're meeting the in-laws for the cruise. They're flying MSO-MSP-FLL today (we would've been on the same MSP-FLL flight). If Delta had notified us of the flight cancellation just 2-3 hours earlier, we could've driven to Missoula and jumped on their flight (if Delta would've put us on that flight - they told me last night there's a 300-mile limit on shuffling airports).

It happens. An early flight like that out of a non crew base airport, no way they can get anyone in until much later. A flying friend of mine once had to call in sick at an out station. Had to go to the local hospital. Turns out he had kidney stones. Never had them, but I hear they'll take you out of commission.

They will fly in a new crew when they can, which means calling in a reserve to their base, and getting them from their base to BOI. Presumably there is a corresponding MSP-BOI flight that will also be canceled, thus no "extra" plane.

The plane flew back to MSP at 1:22 am.
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/CPZ5675
DL5744 was cancelled. In bound plane was DL5741 arriving at 12:57 am at gate B20. The plane had a quick turn around. I suspect it was empty.

Not sure how the regional connection carriers handle pilot scheduling but with the DL system, pilots log in and select their routes and times assuming they are certified on the equipment to be flown. In addition, hubs usually have some pilots on standby that can be rescheduled at a moment's notice. I had this happen on a regional carrier flight from ATL-SHV a few months back. Backed out from the gate, stopped and the pilot announced that the 1st officer had declared himself not airworthy due to illness. Returned to the gate and waited about 30 minutes for them to shuffle another pilot over to our plane.

In an outlying area, it's not just about having a reserve pilot available but also someone certified on the aircraft that is sitting there to be flown. With the weather situation currently across the southeast that could mean that it's difficult to locate a replacement with availability and equipment certification.

Glad to hear it worked out for you! Hope you make it to your cruise on time!

Related:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/pilots...012500215.html

I read things like that, and it makes me sad. It's a shame for people like me who are trying to become the future commercial aviators of the country. From a passenger standpoint, it's definitely an inconvenience, because it can lead to difficulties, especially during times of bad weather and massive IROPS. But from a pilot perspective, it's really disheartening. I look at the new ATP regulations, the seemingly insurmountable task of 1500 hours plus type ratings and interviews, low starting salaries, and then this...smaller airlines parking planes due to a lack of "qualified pilots."

As someone who flies in/out of a small airport a lot I break up my flights by segments if the blank hits the fan. I've rented a car and drove the 4-5 hours to a hub or larger airport and called DL on the way and had them put me on a different flight.
Be very very very very careful with trying to keep that return flight without taking the outbound. I would call and call again and keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get auto-cancelled.
Your situation may be different but they have cancelled my return flight in a situation similar to this and I had to work hard to get it back.

The regionals are going to have to raise salaries. Nobody who lacks a trust fund or who was either trained in the military or flew for the fun of it due to another well-paid profession will ever meet the new minimum qualifications without regional pilot salaries going up; the return on investment just isn't there. When I was a lot younger, my attitude was that I'd pay to fly airplanes for a living. Older and hopefully both wiser and more realistic about life, I value my time and I control where I live. On that score, regional pilot jobs just aren't that attractive despite being able to exceed the minima. And that comes from someone disillusioned from both law and politics and would love to do anything other than what I'm doing. But I won't work a job that costs me money and that's what being a regional pilot would involve. I'd love to fly for a living (the parenthetical being for the fact that I don't really need a job), but it's not worth my time -- not with the salaries being paid.