kjwalker01

I'm fairly new to SW, so please excuse the newbie question. I've got a flight today with an original departure of 2:15. I just got an email saying that it is now 3:15. Can I count on that not moving back to 2:15, or should I just arrive at the airport based on the original flight time? I could use the extra time, but am reluctant to rely on that. Thanks!

Often1

As an abstract question, you cannot count on it. If the flight originates at a major WN "hub" such as BNA or BWI, it is always possible that WN subs in another aircraft and lets the current aircraft perform a different flight. That is not so if you are departing from an airport where your aircraft is hop-scotching in from elsewhere and then onwards.

On the other hand, you also need to consider that a 1-hour delay can evaporate or become 2-hours if it is based on a mechanical or air traffic issue.

My personal approach to one-hour delays is that I treat them as non-existent. They come and go and it isn't worth altering my schedule for them.

toomanybooks

Never rely on these updates. They are worthless. Assume original flight time.

dblumenhoff

The only thing I ever do differently is I will get rid of my uh oh time. In other words, I will get to the airport with what I think is enough time to get to the gate for the original departure time and get rid of the extra 15-30 minutes of padding I usually add.

PAX62

Yeah...it is common for them to make up time along the route and that hour turn into 20 min delay. Many have missed their flight thinking it is a new departure time when it on reality is is just a heads up to start thinking about connections and arrival logistics should the delay hold.

I would still be in the gate area for original departure time... if it is not a heavy load they can flip a plane and reboard quick

kjwalker01

Thanks for the replies. Right after I posted that message, they took back 30 minutes of the original 60 minute delay. Lesson learned, but at least it wasn't the hard way.

dmbolp

It’s like they aren’t doing anyone a favor with these notices, and could just end up screwing folks who listen to the notice...why even do it in the first place?

kennycrudup

Well, they do warn you to be there on time, but as @dblumenhoff had said, it's good for knowing if you have a little padding time. That being said, unless the delay is > 1H I'm still at my gate "on time".

lougord99

I would say they cannot win here. If they think there is a delay and they give no notice, they are castigated. If they give their best estimate of what the delay will be and then magic happens with plane changes or ATC changing its mind, they are also castigated. What do you want them to do? Or do you feel that once they announce a delay, they should stop attempting to shorten the delay.

chuck1

One time reservations told me you can confidently base your arrival time at the airport on the new ETD.
She even went on to say they had just been briefed on this.
However, upon arrival at the airport, I was told this was not the case and the time could be brought forward at anytime.

Jane42

If you do not fly often, you would have no reason to question the time change. This works great to cover them, but what about the paying customer. If my flight is changed by two hours, I would not want to be at the airport 4 hours ahead....just in case. If I book a flight for a certain time, I plan to be there well ahead in case of any delays. That is my responsiblity. If they notify me that the time has changed, I should be able to go by that and not find out when I get there that the flight doors have closed.

I understand, from reading the flyer forums, that it can happen and that you shouldn't go by any time changes that the airlines may notify you of...but I don't believe sending out a notification that the flight time has changed if you aren't suppose to plan around that. It is just confusing.

jeffandnicole

My first experience with that was flying out of Tampa. Had a text alert showing a decent delay. Thought about going to a restaurant with my new-found time, and choose the closer one to the airport. While eating, got another text showing that the delay was gone and I was back to my original flight time. Luckily I still had enough time to make it back to the airport. If I chose my other restaurant idea, I would've been looking for another flight to catch.

joshua362

At least you got the text alerts. I seem to never do, especially the ones I setup manually. And I once recall racing through TPA like crazy (car, bag drop, security) to get to the gate before my A01 was rendered moot, every step of the way it was ontime on the boards and app. Got to the gate and a 3 hour delay was announced as the incoming from HOU hadn't taken off yet. Go figure.

rsteinmetz70112

Wednesday evening our flight was delayed due to the failure of a dead heading Captain to get to us. It was blamed on weather (headwinds). My wife got a text of a 30 minute delay after we were seated and were already 30 minutes late. We were told the Captain would be there is a few minutes, they even pointed out his plane was in the next gate. 30 minutes later we started to taxi. At least the drink was free.

vike16

I just had this happen to me on Wednesday and they changed it 3 times. This is why FlightAware is useful as you can track where the incoming flight is from. In my case, the flight delay has been accurate every time up until the next alert and once the final alert is done, I can make my plans for the new time. YMMV.