What time to go to airport when you know flight is delayed
Dec 21, 2018, 10:13 am
#17
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Personally I'd think about Plan B. Delays sometimes become bigger delays and OP might want to look at availability for a different flight. [OP doesn't seem to be connecting further.] Alternatively, today might be a day to try to avoid checking a bag if this can be done, perhaps by disposing of unnecessary liquids, so that it will be easy to get oneself rerouted after check in if necessary.
If the bag must be checked, I could see an argument for taking it to the airport fairly early and then returning to the hotel room to wait it comfort since SNA doesn't have a lounge. OTOH, without status and with IROPs, OP risks a long line to check the bag, so there's some risk in not allowing enough time to do this if OP must return to the hotel to collect other belongings, etc. Taking everything but keeping the key card and phoning later to check out would be the safer plan.
If the bag must be checked, I could see an argument for taking it to the airport fairly early and then returning to the hotel room to wait it comfort since SNA doesn't have a lounge. OTOH, without status and with IROPs, OP risks a long line to check the bag, so there's some risk in not allowing enough time to do this if OP must return to the hotel to collect other belongings, etc. Taking everything but keeping the key card and phoning later to check out would be the safer plan.
Dec 21, 2018, 10:13 am
#18
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: BNA
Programs: DL GM, HH Diamond
Posts: 1,027
There was a thread or post somewhat recently about someone who got an hour or so delay notification, but was already at the airport and the flight ended up leaving at it's ORIGINAL scheduled departure. The warning was they would have missed the flight if they had arrived to the airport based on the delay notification. I would however argue that is the exception to the norm.
As mentioned already, it is risk management, you basically have to look at the situation. If there are dozens of flights to your final destination from wherever you are departing from, in other words if you miss your flight what are the chances you can still get where you are going that day. If there are plenty of options I wouldn't (and don't) think twice about adjusting my timing to reflect the delayed departure time. With my normal flights there are so many options if I ever get a delay I always just use that as the new time. I am not going to sit around the airport for an extra hour just because it might leave on time.
Now for people that don't normally travel, or have very time sensitive itineraries, I would give different advice. But if you travel often, add up all the time you spend waiting at the airport "just in case" and I would argue it adds up to considerably more time than getting caught on the 'one off situation' actually happening would cost you.
As mentioned already, it is risk management, you basically have to look at the situation. If there are dozens of flights to your final destination from wherever you are departing from, in other words if you miss your flight what are the chances you can still get where you are going that day. If there are plenty of options I wouldn't (and don't) think twice about adjusting my timing to reflect the delayed departure time. With my normal flights there are so many options if I ever get a delay I always just use that as the new time. I am not going to sit around the airport for an extra hour just because it might leave on time.
Now for people that don't normally travel, or have very time sensitive itineraries, I would give different advice. But if you travel often, add up all the time you spend waiting at the airport "just in case" and I would argue it adds up to considerably more time than getting caught on the 'one off situation' actually happening would cost you.
Dec 21, 2018, 10:17 am
#19
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If you never miss a flight, you're spending too much of your life waiting in airports.
Dec 21, 2018, 10:49 am
#20
Join Date: Jul 2009
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This delay was relatively minor, so I think many here would not do anything different. I see that taking your bag over to check would give you more leeway as to your arrival at the gate, but consider whether there's any downside to your luggage arriving SEA before you if you miss the plane. May be none, but if there is something valuable in it, you may not want it circling the drain, I mean the carousel by itself in Seattle.
Dec 21, 2018, 11:06 am
#21
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 1,884
DL pads their schedules quite a bit, so with this short a delay, your delay may end up being an on-time departure or they could get different equipment for the inbound or a million other things could happen. This happened to me a couple weeks ago. Got notified my flight was delayed due to WX, they did an equipment swap to get us out on time and once everyone was onboard for our ontime departure, the flight went MX. Get to the airport for an ontime departure, but check options to see if other routings are available (perhaps through SLC). Once they have posted a delay you can do a free switch to any flights you want.
Dec 21, 2018, 11:06 am
#22
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: USA
Posts: 1,685
The good rule to follow is 90-minutes before your originally scheduled domestic flight.
All this talk about outstations is nonsense. I experienced a plane swap at Cedar Rapids of all places where the pilot determined we were cancelling CID-DTW for mx. Then operations determined they were using that very aircraft to complete a CID-ATL, taking our aircraft, delaying us 6hrs, but pulling back the ATL delay. Complete shenanigans.
While the outstation aircraft swap is rare, it’s still possible, making it better to just sit at the airport vs sitting at home and missing a flight during holiday travel.
All this talk about outstations is nonsense. I experienced a plane swap at Cedar Rapids of all places where the pilot determined we were cancelling CID-DTW for mx. Then operations determined they were using that very aircraft to complete a CID-ATL, taking our aircraft, delaying us 6hrs, but pulling back the ATL delay. Complete shenanigans.
While the outstation aircraft swap is rare, it’s still possible, making it better to just sit at the airport vs sitting at home and missing a flight during holiday travel.
Dec 21, 2018, 11:20 am
#23
Join Date: Feb 2017
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The good rule to follow is 90-minutes before your originally scheduled domestic flight.
All this talk about outstations is nonsense. I experienced a plane swap at Cedar Rapids of all places where the pilot determined we were cancelling CID-DTW for mx. Then operations determined they were using that very aircraft to complete a CID-ATL, taking our aircraft, delaying us 6hrs, but pulling back the ATL delay. Complete shenanigans.
While the outstation aircraft swap is rare, it’s still possible, making it better to just sit at the airport vs sitting at home and missing a flight during holiday travel.
All this talk about outstations is nonsense. I experienced a plane swap at Cedar Rapids of all places where the pilot determined we were cancelling CID-DTW for mx. Then operations determined they were using that very aircraft to complete a CID-ATL, taking our aircraft, delaying us 6hrs, but pulling back the ATL delay. Complete shenanigans.
While the outstation aircraft swap is rare, it’s still possible, making it better to just sit at the airport vs sitting at home and missing a flight during holiday travel.
Maybe I'd be cautious on a once-a-day international flight, but we're talking SNA<->SEA. There's a gazillion flights OP can take to get to SEA on Delta from the LA area, and he's a GM so he would have some degree of priority on standby.
Yes, anything is possible. It's possible his flight will get cancelled outright making this whole conversation moot. The risk here is minimal that he is going to have a plane swap.
Dec 21, 2018, 11:31 am
#24
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Seattle, WA
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This happens to me ALL THE TIME on SFO-SEA segments. Those aircraft go back and forth all day, and if a butterfly sneezes and creates some fog down there, suddenly some flights have to be delayed NINE HOURS, and it’s invariably the short west coast hops. And they won’t even throw me a voucher for the Wolfgang Puck Express that doesn’t work anymore. 
My suggested strategy is to call in and ask to be protected on another flight in addition to your current one. In one example, I had a flight delayed from 10AM to 6PM. There were alternatives at 1-2, but that would have wasted a whole workday. I called in and got protected on the regularly scheduled 7PM flight in addition to my original one.
That gave me the best of both worlds: I could stay on my original flight and make plans for the extra time, and if they happened to dispatch it early I had an alternative to get me home. That let me go in to an office down there and have a full, productive day. And I wasn’t fighting for scraps of seats on overcrowded flights - instead, it turned into a basically guaranteed upgrade as everyone else with status had already rebooked off my original flight.
Took a little sweet talking to get it done, but wasn’t particularly difficult once I explained the logic.
My suggested strategy is to call in and ask to be protected on another flight in addition to your current one. In one example, I had a flight delayed from 10AM to 6PM. There were alternatives at 1-2, but that would have wasted a whole workday. I called in and got protected on the regularly scheduled 7PM flight in addition to my original one.
That gave me the best of both worlds: I could stay on my original flight and make plans for the extra time, and if they happened to dispatch it early I had an alternative to get me home. That let me go in to an office down there and have a full, productive day. And I wasn’t fighting for scraps of seats on overcrowded flights - instead, it turned into a basically guaranteed upgrade as everyone else with status had already rebooked off my original flight.
Took a little sweet talking to get it done, but wasn’t particularly difficult once I explained the logic.
Dec 21, 2018, 11:36 am
#25
Join Date: Sep 2011
Programs: Delta DM, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 1,495
One consideration, not applicable to the OP, is what time TSA closes at smaller airports for late-evening flights. We had friends miss a 9pm flight that was delayed until 10:30pm. They arrived at the airport shortly after 9pm and TSA had just closed, so they couldn't clear security to access the gate. I don't remember the airline, but they treated them as a no-show and wouldn't let them fly out the next morning without a new ticket.
Dec 21, 2018, 11:36 am
#26
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Sunny AZ
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Don't think there is an easy answer. Flying US from EWR to AMS I got the dreaded "your flight is delayed 2h" message (weather related on the route the airplane coming to EWR had) but we still got to the airport the usual time (planning on spending more time in the lounge). While eating I got the alert that the flight now was moved back to be only 10 minutes late (which turned out to be more like 40 minutes in the end) as they used another airplane for the route.
If I would have planned for a 2h delay I would have been in trouble.
If I would have planned for a 2h delay I would have been in trouble.
Dec 21, 2018, 2:08 pm
#27
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: KATL
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A rescinded delay has happened to me. It's been several years, but once I got a delay notification on a flight. So I waited to go to the airport and when I got to the gate very early - earlier than the updated time but later than the scheduled departure - the Gate Agent yelled at me: "We've been calling your name, where have you been, everyone is waiting on you!" Walked onto a planeful of annoyed passengers.
Dec 21, 2018, 5:48 pm
#29
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: BNA
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Dec 21, 2018, 7:25 pm
#30
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: TUL
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