ExplorerWannabe

I've seen the airlines hold flights when they could but there are a lot of variables at play. In my recent experience, they are much less likely to hold the flights now -- I suspect in no small part due to the fines and penalties Congress mandated for late departures.

I remember one flight out of Denver 11 years ago right after a 4-foot snowfall screwed up air traffic for days. I barely made it on the plane from my connecting flight (we were also told the outbound flights would probably be delayed since our delay getting in was due to gateholds) but the ATCs were forcing flights out in order to make gate space. In that case, the FA told the truth as she knew it but DEN ATCs weren't giving the planes any choice.

In fact, they had 7 passengers they knew had checked in at the ticket counter but hadn't made it on board. The flight crew presumed the passengers were stuck in Denver security but again, they had no choice as they were ordered to leave the terminal. The saving grace ended up being that the ATCs had us on the tarmac so long that we burned all the reserve fuel and had to return to the gate to top off again -- the 7 passengers were able to get onboard while we were fueling and the flight ended up taking off only delayed by a couple hours ...

garykung

How heavy?

kwl

The FA'S have a lot more tools at their disposal that helps them provide informed answers to customers. There are so many other factors other than has been mentioned here, such as available crew hours, enroute weather and airport noise restrictions.

sbm12

My read of the situation is that a random pax asked about a specific connection and was given an immediate reply that it was being held, ostensibly because the flight deck informed her of such. If there was a break in the timeline and the FA went and asked I'd be more inclined to believe it. I'm less inclined to believe that OPs sent an ACARS message up to the flight deck that this particular flight was being held and to inform the FAs of such just in case any pax ask. And the FA was informed and remembered it when asked.

Maybe I'm too cynical but that seems an unlikely sequence of events IMO.

I know that the can ask and get information about such. But having it on hand right then when asked is a stretch IME.

joder

Awesome.

cesco.g

Indeed SOP for FAs IME, but unfortunately irrelevant, even though some times it might be the case that a connection is granted.

OTOH, I had instances, where the pilot annouced that flight XYZ was held, based on his communications with ground staff. In most cases this turned out to be correct.

TechMarauder

Agreed. This is a chronic issue with UA. Let me be clear, UA doesn't hold flights unless there are a significant number of cxn Pax. I have missed flights to Europe, Asia, and many domestic ones. The FA has no idea. The captain may be able to call ops but that is largely out of their control.

itsallgood

Besides flights being held for connecting pax, there are a million different reasons why a flight might depart late. If a passenger wishes to check the very latest status of their connecting flight's departure, I'm pretty sure that the United app will work inflight without paying for wifi. The departure time should be updated (as best as possible) on the app for delays. Anyone else care to confirm/deny that the app works inflight (AND would be a better source than asking the FA)?

WineCountryUA

Yes it does. "Free" access to united.com is also standard.

timfountain

I think what the FA is really saying is that "Yes, everything is running late into KABC today so your outbound flight is also likely delayed."

Ber2dca

The thing is, they obviously won't hold a flight with 200 pax for 1 guy but will they hold a flight with 100 pax for 8 people? Certainly a possibility.

I once saw a few FAs get really annoyed because they were holding our flight for a number of delayed pax. It seemed to mess with their schedule or something. The captain came on and explained that those pax would otherwise have to stay overnight and that he'd hope the people on board our plane could sympathize with that. All of the passengers on my flight seemed fine with it, but those FAs didn't seem to care for the decision either way.

zrs70

It's kind of like when a game is rained out. Bad for the sport fans. Good for the grass.

In other words, when a plane is held, grant for those who can make the connection. But perhaps not great for the passenger already on the plane who needs to get somewhere upon landing.

LarryJ

The F/As Lynk device has connectivity through the plane's wifi so they can get real-time data. I don't know what info they see, though.

bluedemon211

Had a UA to ANA (last flight of the day) connection at NRT last month going to BKK. Took a MX delay on the flight to NRT. The FA repeatedly told passengers "we have 18 people on this flight connecting to BKK. They will definitely hold the flight for you". While it made people feel good, it was not based on anything other than wishful thinking. We landed with 25 minutes to clear security and make the connection. I only had carry on and was sitting up front. No problem.
Door opens and the GS rep is right there. Perfect. She grabs me and another GS and we start walking. I knew we were I trouble when she said "we just got bad news from ANA. Since there were so many (18) people connecting and many had bags, there was no way they would all make it......... so they cancelled EVERYONE and gave away the seats to stand by passengers". Definitely not happy, but not a total surprise in Japan where they are very polite and apologetic but rarely do well with things that are not within stated rules.
All 18 of us had to bus to Haneda and take various ANA, Thai or Philippine Air flights leaving 6-10 hours later. I guess the moral of the story is there are so many variables at play, even when it appears the obvious thing to do is hold the flight, it might not happen.

flyerCO

It depends. The pilots are in touch with yhe company thriughout flight. More then once ive heard them tell passengers on flight ABC123 that the flight will be held, but that all others will require rebooking.