Tried to fly RDU -> EWR -> BOS tonite. Connection was 30min, but hey, they booked it, and it was the closest I could get to what I wanted with some points. Anyhow, the first leg was delayed (and delayed, and delayed), due to congestion in the northeast area ("ground hold" and the like). After 3 hours the new airline passenger "bill of rights" kicked in (thank you, Congress) and we did the mandatory return to the gate. I took the option to de-plane, not relishing the thought of spending the night in Newark if I missed the connection to the later flight to BOS (which would have happened unless it too were delayed, which no one could guarantee), and re-booked for tomorrow.

When re-booking, the agent asked when I wanted to go, and I said "the same time". She said "it will be delayed again tomorrow". I'm like "wha' ?!?" She basically said "that flight WILL be delayed all week" and that if I didn't want to be delayed, I should depart before noon. That's a no-go for me, so I booked an early afternoon departure with a 3.5hr connection.

Say what ?? How can this be ? I know we are pretty much turning into a third-world country here in the good ole' USA, but how can airlines run schedules that are guaranteed to fail ? Please be gentle and don't laugh at my naivete ...

They know their loads, they know what is going on in Europe and how that logjam is affecting travel as those flights start flying again, know what the weather will be, etc. There are some flights that can have delays over several days.

What's the on time performance of that flight, does the airline's website list it?

The government maintains statistics of the most delayed flights (though only through the end of 2009 so far)

http://www.bts.gov/programs/airline_...layed_flights/

there are some delayed over 90% of the time. One would think they would change the schedule to make the numbers better, but if they only have a certain number of slots to land and take off on each end.....

Because people believe the schedules even when they are unrealistic.

Schedules are usually made with the expectation of good weather; when there is anything other than good weather, delays occur. Notorious examples are SFO and ORD.

If possible, choose non-stop flights, so that you do not get stranded at a connection airport. If a connection is unavoidable, choose connection airports that are less delayed by weather problems, and choose layover times according to the origin and connection airports' risks of delays (i.e. choose a longer layover if you are originating or connecting at a high risk airport like SFO or ORD).

In this case the OP is talking about the RDU-EWR flight that is "known" to be delayed. I'm guessing that's a CoCo flight and those are the first to take a hit when EWR starts to back up, which is pretty much every single day of the year. Yes, CO schedules it that way because there are random days where it is on time or close enough that it doesn't matter. But those days are really few and far between.

Yes, it was Continental. I did not know Newark was so notorious, although it sounds kinda like it was the whole northeast area (the last ground hold was Washington Center). I don't think WX was to blame for any of it.

They don't really "fail." Airlines do pad their schedules for known congestion issues. DCA-LGA is about half an hour of flight time; once with a phenomenal tailwind we made it in 18. Nevertheless, while an early morning flight will be scheduled for an hour, an early evening flight will be an hour and a half, with the knowledge that you'll spend 20 minutes on the tarmac at DCA waiting for permission to head to New York, then another 20 minutes at LGA waiting for a gate to open up. Airlines will also alter schedules for known big events, say, using bigger planes on certain routes for the day before Thanksgiving or the day after the Superbowl.

But an airline has to watch its costs. Even if a flight is delayed 50% of the time it still might be better for business not to add padding, because you'd lose potential frequencies and customers to competitors and have to pay your staff for more hours for the 50% of time it isn't delayed, and hear complaints from people arriving too early for their carpool.