In CO presidents club at EWR. My 7:45 shuttle is delayed until 8:22 due to "crew difficulties". The earlier and next flights are both on time.

OK, what if you tuned in to my network's 5pm TV news broadcast and we don't start it until 5:22 because the anchor overslept and is running late?

Anyone else ever get this excuse?

Dave

It's somewhat common. Typically it's due to a late inbound flight where the crew is changing equipment. Other times (particularly in DC when it snows!) it's due to horrible traffic on the streets.

OMNI: ever have a doctor's appointment for 3pm and actually SEE the doctor at 3pm????

"crew difficulties"! Why don't these people just say what they mean?

Or at least have the decency to fall back on an old chesnut like "still be re-fueled".

What would they have done if you were 20 minutes late arriving for the flight.

Now, David, lets be empathetic. After my London pub crawl, I was definitely exeperiencing "difficulties" getting to work. And, you know, Newark IS a party kinda town!!!

I had a similar experience on CO departing PIT on an early morning flight for EWR. The flight left one hour late, the stated reason being that the plane had arrived late the night before and the crew needed to meet their FAA-mandated minimum rest requirements.

It seems like poor scheduling to me, but I'm also occasionally willing to give up an hour of my day to ensure that my flight crew is awake and alert.

My favorite is when you are in Europe and American or United has a sick pilot, and they don't have any backups at that base.

Phil

I hope you asked for some level of compensation for the delay. This has happened to me several times on CO out of EWR and I have always received at minimum a $75 voucher based on the inconvenience (and the airline admitted it was their snafu!)

During that hellacious weather week following New Year's I was delayed more than four hours in Minneapolis for a Northwest flight because they did not have the minimum number of flight attendants available mandated by law to take off. One of the other passengers stood up and offered to forego his beverage service if it would speed things up, but they weren't amused.

NJDavid... you SHOULD get some kind of compensation for the delay (a few One Pass miles, a free upgrade, a discount voucher.)

I'm wondering what kind of "crew difficulties" that could be. Maybe someone had too much fun in that great party town Newark (NEWARK????) and could nto get up in the morning. Or a crew member called in sick
and they didn't ahve the minimum to take off.
Hey! If they give me a few pointers I would be happy to help with the beverage service.
They can even pay me in Frequent flyer miles or upgrades!

Of course My FlyerTalk friends would get a little extra drink or two if they want!

OneFreeman: I make my doctor's appointments for two hours before I'm actually seen. It seems my doc's never ready for me!!

Neither are some airplanes it seems. CATMAN

Matt: NEWARK is a "party kind of town?"

Phil, well, ok, I guess compared to Jersey City and Trenton, Newark kind of pales as a place to really party. Of course, nothing compares to party central: Camden, NJ!!!!!!

Spacious cabins, gourmet meals,
First-run movies, discount deals;
In addition to these, it would be sublime
If you could arrange to leave on time!

(Paul Richard)

This is classic Continental! I've mentioned elsewhere, in some long forgotten post, about CO's "mechanical troubles" excuse. This usually means ..."not enough people on the flight to justify getting the plane off the ground" or "we need the plane for another route". On at least five separate occasions over the past two years I have received calls at home from CO at noon or 1 PM on a Sunday informing me that my flight that evening (usually around 8 PM) was cancelled because of "mechanical troubles" and I would be re-booked on an earlier or later flight. (This was on the DCA-NWR route). Eight hours notice that the plane had mechanical troubles! Yeh, right!

At least the maintenance crew was not working on an engine with a flashlight and a screwdriver. When I walk up to the gate and I see this, I immediately look for the next flight out of "Dodge".

And, Catman, you mean the Vet, don't you?

I have factored in a delay with the CO flight to Boston for Baobab's party in New England in March. That's why I'm leaving early, ready for the typical "mechanical delay."

It's worse when the CO jet rolls out to near the NJ Turnpike and you spent the next hour seeing planes lift off and cars zoom by while your Jet sits there.

OMNI for JAWS: The cats wait 30 minutes. For
me, human, I'll make my appointment for one and show up at 3p and still wait 15-20 minutes. Otherwise in that stuffy and hot office I'll fall asleep and miss my call!
CATMAN