? On procedures, canceled flight
 

Really just wondering why our flight was canceled when other ones weren't. Was set to fly BNA-MSP this evening , leaving at 7:05pm. Flight got canceled 7 hours before flight was set to leave. Others in the system appeared, if not on time, we're slightly delayed getting in to msp, but still went. Just wondering for next time, if southwest is not able to handle flight delays, compared to the bigger airlines for some reason

My bet is weather at MSP.

Yes, I agree, weather was bad at MSP, but flight out of bna later in the day on delta got there with a bit of a delay, but got there without canceling the flight. Is SW just not able to handle flight issues like this, so they are more apt to cancel flights? MSP didn't have a whole lot of flights in the day so wondering why SW couldn't make it work compared to others.

Most likely your flight got cancelled to make up for somewhere else and it was going to be the least disruptive system wide.

I would argue Southwest is actually better than the other majors in adapting to flight delays.

Pax62, you're probably right about that. But they did pick and choose and canceled my flight a good 8 hours before departure and to me didn't bother to make a good faith effort to get me to my destination, when others carriers got there passengers there with minor delays. I have had better luck with Delta on flight delays so I will stick with them in the future.

Well, there you go!

In addition to your BNA flight, WN flights from DAL (3088), MDW (5271), MDW(5523), DEN(4174), PHX(4384), and DEN(3250) were all cancelled yesterday. So your flight was not the only one. DL did not cancel any mainline inbound, but a handful for inbound regional flights were cancelled for last night and this morning. So perhaps WN was being overly cautious in this case.

Nose. Spite. Face.

Luck of the draw. For you, I mean. (And everyone on your flight.) But, most likely, cancelling your flight helped others on other flights. I know that's not much consolation, but that's how it goes. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

Ursine1, yes will just go with luck of the draw this time. Getting more info from SW on why they canceled the flight other than anticipated bad weather wld b nice But they aren't going to share their reasoning with me. But for me I will also stay away from SW in the future.

I have no data to back my claim up, but from my anecdotal experience I totally disagree with you. I find that Southwest is the first to cancel flights and cancels the most flights in bad weather.

I took a look at flight aware and SW canceled 20% of their flights to MSP, sat thru sun. Delta had some delays but no cancellations. American made all their flights so far to MSP as well. Maybe SW does a better job at their hubs, or makes more of an effort, or wanted to free up resources in their network. Who knows, could be any reason, including the weather. Regardless, I know who I will take my chances with next time to get back home.

I love Southwest (WN). It is definitely my favorite airline and the fact that it is still possible to obtain the mythical Companion Pass with only credit card points makes it even better. Also, the fact that bag fees are built into the ticket price (haha bags fly free, whatever) makes it even better, since we can check bags without extra charge, and even when we don't check bags I find that most others do, which means it is easier to find overhead space for our carryons. And I also find that even as a non-elite on WN, my 6"3' self still has a chance at an exit row seat, which I'd have to pay lots more $ for on other airlines. So I'm not going anywhere.

THAT HAVING BEEN SAID, I don't want to be too OT here, but I think that WN also is definitely the worst when it comes to canceling flights. I think some people on this board sugarcoat the fact that WN seems to cancel way more than other domestic airlines. I think that the FlightAware statistics consistently show that WN has the highest % of canceled flights (often by a lot), and often the highest % of delays as well. I am not sure how much of that has to do with the ongoing MAX8 fiasco... In my opinion, if you are absolutely needing to get somewhere and you are fortunate enough to have a Delta (DL) nonstop option, that is your best bet. DL almost never cancels their flights. Yes, I have indeed heard of the occasional DL "your flight is not canceled but it is now 24 hours delayed" situation, which is cheating the system. But those seem to be few and far between. Bottom line for me is that if I had more DL choices from Chicago I'd definitely consider DL more, but in reality the companion pass and other ancillary benefits more than makes up for the situations where my WN flight is canceled while other airlines seem to be less affected. If you use a credit card with good travel protections (RIP Citi Prestige), that can at least help alleviate some of the financial burdens associated with cancellations and overnights.

A cancelled flight could be from a long list of reasons. Some are far from obvious.

- crew scheduling issues
- bad weather at destination
- weather where plane is coming from
- weather at intermediate stop
- where plane will end of the night
- next day weather
- where that need that plane the next day
- light loads (rare - but can add to any of the above reasons)
- something mechanical to another plane, so they need this plane for another flight
- plane needs scheduled maint that was deferred but now needs to be done
- etc etc etc

To say one airline is better than another is dealing with cancels (IRROPS) is a long discussion. It all depends on each situation. They all have good days and bad days.

Still, with all that said, WN does seem to be higher in cancels. And that is impacted by having those MAX8 planes sitting idle (5% of their fleet). Still, out next half dozen trips are with WN even though I am lifetime Silver with Delta.