AlicorporateUK

I’ve just been notified that today’s KL1366 has been cancelled, which [as odd as this may sound] made my day because I was supposed to connect to Birmingham later on and apparently the snow is affecting the UK as well, meaning potential delays, diversions and so on. Ah well, Mrs happy and I can enjoy a sunny Sunday here in Warsaw, then easily rebook myself on tomorrow’s afternoon flight <happy face>

G

johan rebel

Well, with all the other cancelations, they should have plenty of pilots to spare now.

I wonder whether there have been more pilot shortage cancelations recently?

Colleagues have had flights canceled earlier this week for no obvious reason (weather fine, etc.), with the FlightStats events timeline showing no other information beyond "record created". Seems as if KL had no intention to operate at all. In one instance, the first of two pax was automatically rebooked on the next flight, while the other was rebooked a very long way round via CDG. KL refused to rebook this pax on the next flight, claiming there was no availability in Economy, and that they would not rebook in Business as a matter of policy. Our corporate TA then booked a new ticket in Economy on the very same flight!

As for today's flights, as it was impossible to get hold of KL reservations, we just purchased new tickets on the desired flights, instead of the ones KL had auto-rebooked them on.

Johan

AlicorporateUK

I got through the UK number in seconds after noticing that KL had rebooked me on today's 4:45PM service to MUC when I had already made alternative arrangements with the hotel in BHX etc. Nice gesture from KL (getting me on a different flight/airline on the very same day) however, as explained to the nice lady on the phone, my flight to BHX would have still been at significant risk due to the heavy snowfall over in the Midlands, reason why I eventually went for WAW-CDG-BHX at 1PM tomorrow.

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KLflyerRalph

Yes. About 20 this Friday-Sunday.

Carel1

My flight today from CPH to AMS KL1130 (14.15) was cancelled last Thursday and I was rebooked on the KL1232 (17.20). Yesterday that flight was cancelled and I was rebooked on a SAS flight at 8.00.
Maybe the cancellation of KL1130 was because of a pilot shortage.

johan rebel

A colleague who was booked on a flight to AMS this morning (which flight, in my estimation, could easily have operated) was rebooked on the next flight this afternoon. This flight of course ended up some four hours late, so he had to cancel the trip.

The Dutch met office is forecasting snow in southern and central parts of the country from sometime tomorrow afternoon, so KL has embarked on another round of pre-emptive cancelations. Another colleague due to fly tomorrow morning has had his flight canceled, even though the forecast for AMS promises clear skies and only light variable winds in the morning.

As one of Europe's largest airports, with no fewer than six runways at its disposal, Schiphol should really get its act together. A professional deicing service would be a start, in stead of relying on a bunch of volunteers provided by the dominant carrier.

Johan

Ardecos

I managed to get back to EDI from AMS today, although 4 hours hours late. I thought I might be lucky as the plane was at the gate in good time for a 12:15 departure. The only problem was that the pilot was on a delayed flight back from Heathrow and arrived an hour late. We boarded shortly after his arrival but by this time the snow was getting heavier and we had to wait for de-icing. By the time we got to our slot time (~15:00) the airport was effectively closed. Eventually we went to the de-icing stand (about 16:15) and departed about 17:20. Overall it was long-winded but I was probably luckier than most people. However, it seems that the new de-icing procedures are long winded and so more stands should be used to compensate.

irishguy28

What would you suggest they do?

Frankfurt had over 300 cancellations today, the FAZ reports of Chaos an Flughäfen in Frankfurt und Düsseldorf. Heathrow also had to divert and cancel flights due to not having enough capacity for de-icing.

Pre-emptive cancellations take thousands of passengers out of the system, prevent people from being stranded at the hub, where facilities are stretched by such events, and allow for those who can be rebooked on a better itinerary to be accommodated. You may not agree but I am sure some passengers at least prefer to know in advance that their flight is cancelled, rather than finding out after sitting around at the airport for hours - or sleeping on a camp bed in the terminal that night.

It's not reasonable to expect an airport that has maybe 2 or 3 days of snow per year to be able to switch from "normal" to "snow event" operation without hitch or flaw. Having a "professional deicing service", whether on standby or permanently stationed there, wouldn't help much either; I'm not sure what a "professional de-icing service" that can respond effortlessly to short-notice demand would look like, or cost. And besides, availability of "professional" de-icing services in no way addresses reduced air traffic control flow rates.

irishguy28

Saw this on MSN earlier - via the Mirror - BA apparently called police to "escort" its guests out of the lounges when the staff decided they wanted to go home for the night and leave the stranded pax to fend for themselves.

It seems that police were also called at some outstations, too.

I dare say many of these passengers would have appreciated a pro-active cancellation rather than being told after a 10-hour wait at the airport that their flight was cancelled.

orbitmic

wow - but should this not be posted on the BA forum which has its own thread on weather disruptions?

Carel1

KL803

Another victim here: KL1962 December 10 cancelled (part of ZRH-AMS-SIN-MNL trip), got rebooked for December 9 on TK via IST to MNL, but received the message only 15 minutes after check-in deadline. So obviously I didn't make that flight. Luckily I was able to sort that out at the airport @ ZRH and got booked on CX ZRH-HKG-MNL.
How are your experiences with "double dipping"? Of course I added my Avios # in the CX booking, but how are the chances of getting my original segments (ZRH-AMS-SIN; SIN-MNL was on SQ so not applicable) credited to FB?

irishguy28

I'm posting it here in defence of KL's pre-emptive cancellation policy.

If you're going to have to piss off thousands of customers one way or another, it's better to do it in a way that doesn't have them clogging up your main airport

It should be noted also that BA were warning about AMS, and AMS only, on Saturday evening, and allowing customers to rebook for this single destination only.

irishguy28

I recently had no issues with having my original, cancelled KLM itinerary credited; a quick note to FB including all supporting information (copies of the new and old e-tickets, copies of the cancellation/rebooking notice, etc) and it should be sorted for you. No need to go into details about their rebooking being offered too late for you to use it - all they need to see is proof that you were rebooked onto a different carrier/alliance. Don't add unnecessary detail.

KLflyerRalph

Yes it was cancelled due to crew reasons.
Apparently the situation is so bad KLM had to wet-lease Transavia 737's.