Text alert regarding delayed flight
 

Just curious what do most people do when you get a text alert stating your flight is delayed for 2-3 hours . Do you still show up at the airport at the original time? I know there are experiences where the airline finds another plane to make the flight on time and in most cases never sends a text that the flight is now departing on time. That should never happen as planes dont appear out of nowhere in minutes - they would have hours advanced notice (hopefully they are not bringing a plane out of the graveyard).

But my problem is my time is valuable - I cannot be expected to wait at the airport for 2+ hours without being compensated. Just like if I do not show up at the airport on time, I have to pay a penalty, the airline should pay an hourly penalty for each passenger forced to wait for the airline not showing up on time.

My current instance is with southwest. I plan on going for the late departing time (not original).

I usually get them a few hours after the plane has landed lol.

Anyhow, DON'T GO BY THE TEXT. Show up at the original scheduled time!! They can "undelay" a plane.

generally good advice, but you can check FlightRadar24 to backtrack the jet ... WN is pretty good about keeping a plane on its scheduled routing for the day

WN also has a fair number of multi-segment flights ... notional example: WN2208 operates LAS-SJC-SNA-PHX-DEN; if you're notified that PHX-DEN is going to be 2 hours late, chances are if LAS-SJC (or anything upline from LAS) is 2 hours late, there won't be much chance of catching up during the day

Not showing up at the original time is dangerous when the departing airport is a hub for the carrier. That's a scenario ripe for a plane swap.

In outlying stations, I try to reverse engineer where the plane is coming from, if it isn't obvious from the airline's app (United is particularly strong in this area). When I am pretty sure there is no chance for a plane swap, or the possibility of getting on another flight through a different hub, my plan of action is to arrive later than my norm, and get through security right about when the plane would board (if on time). So instead of arriving at the gate 60 minutes early, I might shoot for 35.

I had this on last Thursday. My flight on UA to SFO from LHR was late. I got a text from them just before I went to bed, so could set my alarm for later. But I knew that the plane was coming from SFO and it couldn't possibly arrive any earlier. But UA had options: they could have cancelled this, their second and last SFO flight of the day, delayed their first and put everyone on it, then kept the plane in London, cancelling an inbound for the following day. But I checked the loads and saw that this was not really feasible. So I was safe. The moral is that you should only turn up late if you really see that the airline has no real options but to fly the original flight late.

Hi,

A couple of years ago in Las Vegas I got a text message from BA advising that the flight back to london was delayed by 3hrs ( from 8pm to 11pm and gave a new check in closing time of 1 hr prior to the new departure time).

In this case as the plane has to come in from London and it specifically mentions a new time you can get to the airport later .

Regards

TBS

Nice to share your experience. There probably is a BA routine for this. The same thing happened to me some 3 years ago, returning from DFW. Without the text message, clearly stating new check-in time, I would not have dared showing up but for the original time.

At LHR, however, I've had many delayed departure messages later being overridden by the sudden appearance of a substitute aircraft, just pushing ETD +15 min etc, so there is a situation where you might regret not having checked in already.

OP has not told us anything other than just how valuable his time is.

Knowing the carrier and departure airport would help.

Most carriers, including DL, UA, and AA if this is US domestic, all specify that one must be at the gate within X minutes of scheduled departure. Thus, unless you are at some small outstation where there is no realistic chance of an aircraft substitution, you put your ticket at risk if you no show and have not checked with your carrier.

In particular, estimates for aircraft repair, weather, and ATC delays are all subject to change. Even at a small outstation, there may be a ground hold for the inbound flight. But, that could disappear and your 3-hour delay turn into 30 minutes in a split second.

So, you have to decide whether your time is too valuable to waste waiting for a delay or waiting for the next flight.

3 posts above yours, the OP said that he flew out of SMF. Did you neglect to read all of the posts in your rush to lecture us (again)?

ETA: In the initial post he said "My current instance is with Southwest". So apart from the carrier and airport, what information did he leave out?

I've never had a text about a late flight.

Apparently, you don't use Tripit. I got off the plane in VIE and I Got a text that my plane was canceled to Amman. Went to the lounge where they booked me a hotel, taxi, and meals. plus they put me on the next plane in the morning.

I used to get texts and now get app notifications from United for delays, boarding, gate changes, etc. So far, it seems like it works well and is fairly timely and accurate.

I was on UA from HNL to LAX back in October. Got a text early in the morning that the flight was delayed until 4PM (originally 7AM). Decided to head to the airport as originally planned. Sure enough, the flight was delayed. However, since we were one of the first in line, United was able to put us on a Delta flight leaving at the same time.

I can't speak for SouthWest, But I would not recommend this with many airlines. While the departure can change, many airlines keep the schedule for real-time check-in (as opposed to online check-in) to the original time. If you show up after the fact (or if you have checked luggage), you could be SOL.

As for aircraft substitutions, often when they "find" another aircraft, it is usually one that had arrived earlier that has already been prepped and can carry a similar number of passengers. They swap them out and voila, instant aircraft.

Generally, I will arrive for the normal scheduled time. I make sure I can work remotely just in case there is a delay and I need to do something. Hence I avoid any unpleasant surprises (such as a car accident occurring after I should have arrived). I never rely on delayed inbound aircraft as the situation can change at any time.

This. Two examples: I was once informed of a long (4+-hour) delay after I'd arrived at MCI for a flight to EWR, connecting to a flight to DEL. Those who left the airport ended up SOL; we were put on another plane going out "only" 2 hours late. And, when EWR was my home airport, I was flying out on a dark and stormy night and it was chaos. I pointed out to the gate agent that the arrival time of the inbound aircraft for my flight was impossibly close to the takeoff time for my destination and his response was something on the order of, "we're just figuring out what to do as planes come in". It was an honest "we don't know" answer and I really appreciated it.

One other thing I forgot to mention... At least for YYZ (and likely any Canadian airport with pre-clearance)... The CBP still close at their scheduled time. They don't care if your inbound is late... If you need to clear for a flight to the US, you best get to the airport when you should... Otherwise you will be taking another flight (and possibly be a no show if you have a connecting flight onwards).

Hub: I show up at original time. Even in the "my time is super valuable" case, modern technology allows me to work reasonably well from an airline lounge. In the "my time isn't quite *that* valuable" case, modern airline lounges allow me to drink reasonably well while I wait.

Outstation: I follow the tail and figure out what I need to do from there. Southwest will often post a delay early in the day but then the aircraft "catches up" if it proceeds through a couple hassle-free turns on its way to you.

In a broad sense, I have never been the "cut-it-as-close-as-possible" camp. I get wanting to minimize time in the airport. I am not going to show up 8 hours early for a flight. That said, I am not going to try to arrive 5 minutes before boarding either just to avoid sitting around either. I work with people like that, and most of them frequently miss flights or get on late, losing bin space and facing seat poachers. Time is one of those things it is better to have and not need than to need and not have.

There are ALWAYS unpredictable factors...traffic delays on the way to the airport being the topmost, but other things too..a little old lady infront you in the security line who is clueless etc etc. I make sure I am there at least 2 hours before. If nothing happens, I have no problem sitting in the airport. And if there is a delay, I still operate as if the flight is on time, because things can "undelay".