idiotic response from airlines
Jun 22, 2009, 7:58 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 9
idiotic response from airlines
Recently had a friend of mine's who flown back to Toronoto from US and was scheduled to arrive around 11:30PM. Unbelievably, he didn't arrived until 2:30AM. A complaint was sent to the airlines and here's what they response:
".....Our information from XXXXXX Airlines is that Air Traffic Control could not dispatch the flight on time due to additional air spacing requirements, along this flight route. This is not to say the weather was bad in either city.
Unfortunately, weather related situations are beyond our control....
Sincerely,
Jxxxxx Rxxxxxxx
Customer Relations"
Do they even have an idea what they're saying?! ya, like weather related situations are beyond their control, but before that, they just said WEATHER WASN'T BAD IN EITHER CITY!!! It's clearly that the airlines is trying to avoid the responsibilities!
".....Our information from XXXXXX Airlines is that Air Traffic Control could not dispatch the flight on time due to additional air spacing requirements, along this flight route. This is not to say the weather was bad in either city.
Unfortunately, weather related situations are beyond our control....
Sincerely,
Jxxxxx Rxxxxxxx
Customer Relations"
Do they even have an idea what they're saying?! ya, like weather related situations are beyond their control, but before that, they just said WEATHER WASN'T BAD IN EITHER CITY!!! It's clearly that the airlines is trying to avoid the responsibilities!
Jun 22, 2009, 8:17 am
#2
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: BNE
Posts: 2,622
Recently had a friend of mine's who flown back to Toronoto from US and was scheduled to arrive around 11:30PM. Unbelievably, he didn't arrived until 2:30AM. A complaint was sent to the airlines and here's what they response:
".....Our information from XXXXXX Airlines is that Air Traffic Control could not dispatch the flight on time due to additional air spacing requirements, along this flight route. This is not to say the weather was bad in either city.
Unfortunately, weather related situations are beyond our control....
Sincerely,
Jxxxxx Rxxxxxxx
Customer Relations"
Do they even have an idea what they're saying?! ya, like weather related situations are beyond their control, but before that, they just said WEATHER WASN'T BAD IN EITHER CITY!!! It's clearly that the airlines is trying to avoid the responsibilities!
".....Our information from XXXXXX Airlines is that Air Traffic Control could not dispatch the flight on time due to additional air spacing requirements, along this flight route. This is not to say the weather was bad in either city.
Unfortunately, weather related situations are beyond our control....
Sincerely,
Jxxxxx Rxxxxxxx
Customer Relations"
Do they even have an idea what they're saying?! ya, like weather related situations are beyond their control, but before that, they just said WEATHER WASN'T BAD IN EITHER CITY!!! It's clearly that the airlines is trying to avoid the responsibilities!
The response makes sense to me. They are saying that although the weather at the origin and destination airport was fine, the weather along the route required additional spacing restrictions. These restrictions resulted in fewer aircraft being able to pass through at any given time and created subsequent delays.
Jun 22, 2009, 9:20 am
#3
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Ottawa
Programs: AC E (depressed former SE), Hilton Diamond, Hertz PC
Posts: 166
The response makes sense to me. They are saying that although the weather at the origin and destination airport was fine, the weather along the route required additional spacing restrictions. These restrictions resulted in fewer aircraft being able to pass through at any given time and created subsequent delays.
Makes sense to me too. For example, I believe that flights coming into PHL are heavily influenced by the weather in the NYC area, due to the high volume of traffic in that corridor. So in this case, the weather PHL and YYZ might be fine, but if the weather at NYC is crummy, then there would likely be a delay.
Jun 22, 2009, 1:22 pm
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Newport Beach, California, USA
Posts: 36,062
ATC sets minimum spacing between aircraft based on conditions in-flight. It most definitely is a weather issue, though not necessarily related to weather in either the arrival or departure city. This was a perfectly appropriate response and, needless to say, the situation was out of the direct* control of the airline.
* I say "direct" because spacing issues relate to the number of aircraft in the air and, with airlines going to smaller aircraft and more frequent schedules, they contribute to the problem.
* I say "direct" because spacing issues relate to the number of aircraft in the air and, with airlines going to smaller aircraft and more frequent schedules, they contribute to the problem.
Jun 23, 2009, 6:11 am
#5
Join Date: Jul 2004
Programs: AC.SE
Posts: 2,578
There can also be delays due to spacing requirements unrelated to weather anywhere. The departure of my BKK-ZRH flight a few days ago was delayed because of increased traffic over Afghanistan.
Jun 23, 2009, 10:20 am
#6
Senior Moderator; Moderator, Eco-Conscious Travel, United and Flyertalk Cares
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: Fulltime travel/mostly Europe
Programs: UA 1.7 MM;; Accor & Marriott Pt; Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 17,831
welcome to FlyerTalk. I would move this to another forum since it is really not a trip report, but a question about the workings of ATC. You have received some accurate answers - the weather in route is just as important as the weather in your beginning and ending cities. I'm going to close this in light of the explanations, but if you would like further explanation, feel free to send me a private message and I can have an air traffic controller explain further, iif you'd like.
l'etoile
Trip Reports moderator
l'etoile
Trip Reports moderator