ND76

The equipment they were supposed to use on my DCA-MSP flight leaving in about three hours was an A320 from the DTW-DCA route which was supposed to have landed Potomacside around 2320 last night.

Delta must be needing every available aircraft in its proper position this morning, because they did not cancel DL1825, but instead chose to endure a 4 hour 28 minute delay, and then take off at 0238 EDT. The flight is currently enroute with an ETA of 0353.

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...10ZZ/KDTW/KDCA

Weather radar depicts that the big storm rolling into the mid-Atlantic has split in two, with the DC airports seemingly blissfully in a location of relative calm between the two forks, and t-storms once predicted in the 5 am hour are off the board now.

HDQDD

There were severe delays up and down the East Coast yesterday due to that weather system. It's likely just a residual effect. For example, DL had three LAX-JFK flights divert to RDU (that shows how bad the whole mid-atlantic region was). IAD/BWI/RIC/ORF/CHS/ACY also saw lots of diversions. At last count I think there were over 100 diversions last night (all carriers).

3Cforme

Yep.

Did you think the published schedule called for it to fly somewhere DCA-XXX empty this morning?!

DCAproducer

I’ve been on that last flight of the day from DTW to DCA many times. Back in the day it was a CRJ7/9. One time it went mechanical, but they didn’t cancel. Many people left, but since I was stuck at DTW I waited it out. They literally went around looking for another aircraft and found one that had just come out of a check and needed all of the seat cushions put back in place. We left around 1am.

I was supposed to fly out of DCA this am with a connection st JFK and that flight was cancelled, so some planes obviously didn’t make it in overnight. Thankfully DL automatically rebooked me through ATL and even kept all of my F upgrades!

Edit: A friend of mine who was also supposed to fly out of DCA this morning on JetBlue made it all the way to the gate before they cancelled her flight. At least I woke up to a Delta alert and an automatic rebooking.

koreanair720

I was in the upper deck of the Nats-Yankees game last night at the winds were gale force. This was before the rain delay even began! The lightning show was quite something

Ysitincoach

Everything that made it into DCA yesterday was pretty much a "red eye," and every plane was full of pax that were thankful Delta no longer tries to cxl.

They even sent a random CR2 as DL9181.

BearX220

I think most DL regulars prefer the complete-no-matter-what policy to a cancel-at-first-sign-of-rain policy.

nystateofmind

My aunt and uncle were on a flight that diverted to IAD. Delta provided a bus to their intended destination.

mot29

Good thing DL is flying relatively quiet aircraft -- according to the airport authority the DCA Nighttime Noise Rule still allows fines for operating noisy aircraft. DCA Reagan National - Nighttime Noise Rule | Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority

I'm keeping my eye on what happens here in DC. I'm booked on 1541 DCA-MSP at 720 pm on Thursday, with a 1 hour connection to AMS (I think DL's the last flight of the day from the US to EU) then heading on to OSL. I was a bit worried but that was all I could do with a GUC, and the one leg that hadn't cleared, DCA-MSP, cleared yesterday.
1541 has pretty consistently been early in to MSP according to flightaware until the last 2 nites when the weather has delayed the departure from DCA by 2 and 4 hours.
Weather report now is only calling for showers Thursday night so we shall see what happens.

Often1

Seems well-handled by DL.

Those at DTW headed to DCA for meetings or to return home get to do so. Those at DCA headed to meetings in MSP also arrive in time to change and get to most meetings. Those who don't like the timings, are free to cancel for a refund or to rebook.

The alternative is that DL makes the decision for the passenger and that's often not the one the passenger wants.

ijgordon

Those storms were fierce. A number of deaths in the region from falling trees, often on people in cars.

ND76

I got to DCA on the first Metro train of the morning from Huntington, arriving just before 0515. It was a mob scene in there, with the regular TSA line to the Delta gates starting where the corridor to the Metro station and the parking garage meets the main landside concourse. Thank goodness for CLEAR; the line there was only five people, and I easily got through to airside by 0522.

The point of this thread was to laud Delta for not cancelling their flights into DCA. In my case, Delta substituted an A320 on the MSP route which arrived in the 1 am hour from ATL for the originally intended A320 coming in from DTW. They then used the DTW A320 for the 0659 DCA-ATL.

SOBE ER DOC

As someone who endures AA's cancel upon a cloud sighting policy I am very happy that DL will get me there. Its one of the many reasons why I prefer DL over AA.

readywhenyouare

BearX220

Perhaps I should have phrased it complete-no-matter-when, but you know very well recklessness was not at all what I meant.