Delta Boston Meltdown with International Flights Sunday
 

Delta had a horrible day yesterday at Terminal E with its international schedule.

DAL 258 (333) (CDG-BOS) CXL operational reasons - DAL 9897 (a 757) is operating later today, presumably to get displaced pax home- DAL 259 (339) (AMS-BOS) CXL operational reasons- DAL 257 (333) AMS-BOS running with an hour delay- DAL 258 (339) BOS-AMS CXL operational reasons - DAL 9906 is operating later tonight (9:30 departure) on a 333- DAL 59 (764) LHR-BOS is running with a 2+ hour delay- DAL 122 yest (763) BOS-EDI ran with a 3 hour delay- DAL 124 yest (763) BOS-LIS ran with a 3 hour delay- DAL 125 (763) LIS-BOS is running with a 2 hour delayThe FCO flights are on time and ATH and TLV don’t run did not operate on Sunday.

Hearing that terminal E was a madhouse as one can imagine. Arriving flights from numerous carriers sustained significant delays due to prolonged waits for open gates. As a longtime Delta flyer, I was thrilled to hear about all the new international routes out of Boston. But if this kind of meltdown can happen with ZERO weather issues, what's going to happen on a day full of summer storms?

Today, Monday, should be interesting to watch. I believe that there are 5 BOS-AMS flights today... 2 regular DL, two special sections and a KL. ATH and TLV also operate today, although some leave from A gates.

Was any reason provided all these issues?

When I see 'operational reasons' that is a very high probability that it means crew/staff shortage. Sounds like DL is having a mess and it is impacting its long haul flights also.

I noticed an extra section last Friday... a 75W from ATL-CDG. I assumed it would return to Boston but didn't see it scheduled anywhere.

So wait, that's 3 canceled flights?

Sunday's DL 256 to AMS ended up leaving BOS at 4AM Monday! Not canceled, just 11+ hours late! One flight on Saturday canceled, the other left at 0100 Sunday for AMS.

More issues tonight. DL258 to AMS is over 4.5hrs late, scheduled now to leave in a few minutes. DL 58 to LHR is similar, still not departed at 4+ hours late.

A 75W from ATL! That’s quite the ride compared to a widebody.

N703TW, the plane that did ATL-CDG, on Sunday went from CDG to BOS as an extra flight (DL 9897). So it stayed at CDG for a while.

As someone has pointed out on another board, BOS had 9 TATL departures yesterday, Monday to DUB, EDI, LIS, LHR, AMS, FCO, ATH, TLV, 763s, 764 (LHR) and 333/339s. That's without any BOS pilot base. So these flight crews must come from ATL or JFK to staff crew these flights. That's another potential issue.

Looks like they’re way understaffed on the new 339’s..

Continental did it EWR-AMS/CDG/DUS for a while in transition from DC-10 and brand new 767-200/400 service (remember they were falling apart / piece fell of picked up by Concorde at CDG)…
It was okay… 22 years ago.

Curiously seeking general travel wisdom (so don't answer if I'm out of line) - Does an eleven hour delay happen all at once so you can just leave the terminal and find a hotel, or does it proceed in interminable steps so you have to stay put wondering if you're suddenly going to board. How quickly do close-in hotel rooms fill up in circumstances like this (as opposed to winter storms shutting down all travel for example.) Anecdotes collected over the years help me evaluate current circumstances when they happen, plus I love insight into all the systems involved.

Yes, meaning both can happen. If a plane going to an international outstation is 11 hours late, then the return flight could be 11 hours late as well and they'll know that well in advance. But there are also times a plane goes mechanical and they give updates every hour about when the plane will leave, and then you'll be stuck in the terminal most of the time because you never know which update will be "we can go now."


It depends on the city and the severity of the event. If thunderstorms shut down DL's largest hub (ATL), hotel rooms could easily fill by early afternoon. If it's a single flight that's delayed at an outstation, then hotel rooms likely won't fill up unless something else is happening in town.

Are you suggesting that the normal schedule is two DL BOS-AMS nonstops plus one KLM BOS-AMS nonstop, one BOS-ATH nonstop and one BOS-TLV nonstop, plus presumably at least LHR and CDG nonstop flights? That's amazing!