Mats

Dear FlyerTalkers,
On Sunday, I am supposed to fly Boston-Newark-Seattle.

The first flight is a Shuttle America E-170, departing Boston at 12:45, arriving Newark at 2:15. The connecting flight leaves Newark at 3:59 pm. I scored upgrades on both (nice for a Sunday evening transcon.)

Given Newark's recent Traffic Management program actions, I'm quite concerned about a misconnect. Newark weather on Sunday is supposed to be a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon.

Since the Shuttle America flight is new, there is no historical data to evaluate its performance.

I've been watching over the past few days, and it seems completely unpredictable. The flights have all been mainline, and some are early, others are an hour late.

Do you think I should try to do an SDC and fly into Newark earlier? Or is 1:45 sufficient despite potential delays?

My experience has been that United doesn't announce delays until after they've already happened, so I'm fearful about just "checking the web site" Sunday morning.

What are your suggestions?
Why am I so worried about this?

prestonh

I did those exact flights a week ago. We had a 60 min. ground hold but favorable routing got us in only 30 min. late. SDC worked at T-24 via the mobile app. With ATC, UA may not know of delays until you board, but you can usually tell by what's going on with flights around you. I've never been disappointed taking an earlier flight in these situations.

whistler814

Perhaps SDC to connect in a different hub altogether.

prestonh

I haven't traversed CLE yet, but every UA hub except LAX has weather issues in the spring/summer, so it's kind of a crapshoot.

LilAbner

A SDC to another hub is almost a certainty that he won't get his second CPU (which he presently has). I'd just leave earlier on stand-by from BOS. A SDC means that the same fare MUST be available as before or he'll pay the difference.

Lurker1999

If it helps you sleep better go with the earlier flight at 9:50am. Maybe leave your bags at the UC and head to NYC to justify the earlier flight?

warreng24

Shuttle America is an UnitedExpress Carrier.

Remember that when WX & ATC issues arise, UX takes delays first before mainline UA.

The theory is to sacrifice UX so that the mainline UA flights at least have a chance of operating on-time.

Often1

I would SDC or even outright change to the earlier flight. OP is absolutely correct about ATC problems in the BOS-WAS corridor and its the UX flights which go first (although BOS-EWR won't be the first of those).

Hammer0425

Unless the weather is abysmal, you'll be fine going into Newark on a Sunday. Its a reduced schedule day and the delays are not nearly what you would see on a weekday.

If you're so worried about it don't book your ticket that way next time.

jkburns1

I fly Bos-EWR on Sundays quite frequently - usually later then this flight but I've rarely run into too many delays. Weather for Sunday isn't looking bad for EWR so I'd be surprised if you have issues. As mentioned though, if that concerned I'd use SDC for BOS-EWR leg and go stand-by on an earlier flight.

On another note my experience with the UA folks in BOS has been very good and the United Club Lounge staff in BOS Terminal A have always been fantastic with IRROPS for me if things go awry.

FlyWorld

If this were me, I'd try to take an earlier flight so you have more buffer.

SDC is not a bad idea if you want to avoid the costs. You can check loads on the earlier option(s) to judge if that is wise.

If you do the SDC or any change, I'd be really careful about protecting your UG on the transcon. Who knows what kind of a mess it will make in SHARES.

sinoflyer

Use .bomb or the mobile app to backtrack two flights that your aircraft will be scheduled to perform prior to yours. Although it's not a foolproof way to determine whether your flight will be on time, it's a good indicator of the conditions around the rest of the system.

I too get a little concerned about my flights when traveling in the afternoon during the spring and summer, especially when it involves a coveted upgrade that I do not want to lose. Good luck.

dmurphynj

Bah! I just got a notification that 5143 EWR-ATL tonight (Sunday) was cancelled. No reason given, nor any waiver in place. I had an F seat on an E-170 (I know, not a 'great' F seat, but F nonetheless.)

Now I have to scramble; they rebooked me for Monday morning, getting into ATL at 12:30 or somesuch. Way too late. Gotta call now and see what the deal is since it wants to charge a $200 change fee to pick a different flight online.

mduell

When you call, don't forget to press for other airlines like Delta or Airtran if UA can't accommodate you with their own metal when you need to fly.

Mats

SDC wasn't a choice because everything was full. (I didn't think that paying a fare difference made sense.)

So far, I've been backtracking the E-170 from Columbus, to O'Hare, and then Boston. Despite media hype, the risk of severe storms in the Northeast is still considered to be "slight."

I think I would have shrugged it off in the past, but Scott McCartney's recent article about regionals and Newark had me spooked.