Disturbing Pattern with Flight Departing Late

[micdee]

We are flying US Air, nonstop, Philly to San Juan on 2/27 (flight is supposed to depart at 9:40am). In the last 3 weeks I decided to check out my flight's daily departure to see if there are any delays. What I've noticed is that during the week and on Sundays, the flight usually leaves on time. However, come Saturdays, the flight is delayed 5, 6 and up to 7 hours:eek:. What's odd is the flights before and after ours(again US Air, PHL to SJU) are all on time. We are arriving the day before our cruise (or should I say night by the looks of things:rolleyes:) but now I'm mad because if I had wanted to take a later flight the airfare would have been cheaper at the time I booked. I also don't look foward to a 7 hour airport stay, followed by a 4hour flight. The reason they state on their website for the delay always seems to be mechanical in nature. Should we be afraid to get on this plane? Would the airline let me change my flight time free of charge, on a non refundable ticket?

[6rugrats]

Would the airline let me change my flight time free of charge, on a non refundable ticket?

 

No, the airline will not let you just change a flight on a nonrefundable ticket because you decide you'd rather leave earlier/later. You would have to pay the change fee, plus any difference in fare. I am not familiar with US's standby rules. Why not explore that possibility and see if you can get on another flight with no charge.

 

Should you be afraid? Last year, I had awful luck getting out of PHL on time (on UA). Four times, my flights were delayed at least three hours. Hopefully, your flight will go well.

[diane.in.ny]

I've gone standby on USAirways several times. But I've only had carry on luggage so that wasn't a problem.

 

My suggestion is to get on USAirways web site a day or two before you travel and check the available seats on an earlier flight. If the flight is wide open, you could get to the airport early and try to go on it standby. Of course if you can't, you'll be sitting at the airport even longer.

[HappiTravels]

We are flying US Air, nonstop, Philly to San Juan on 2/27 (flight is supposed to depart at 9:40am). In the last 3 weeks I decided to check out my flight's daily departure to see if there are any delays. What I've noticed is that during the week and on Sundays, the flight usually leaves on time. However, come Saturdays, the flight is delayed 5, 6 and up to 7 hours:eek:. What's odd is the flights before and after ours(again US Air, PHL to SJU) are all on time. We are arriving the day before our cruise (or should I say night by the looks of things:rolleyes:) but now I'm mad because if I had wanted to take a later flight the airfare would have been cheaper at the time I booked. I also don't look foward to a 7 hour airport stay, followed by a 4hour flight. The reason they state on their website for the delay always seems to be mechanical in nature. Should we be afraid to get on this plane? Would the airline let me change my flight time free of charge, on a non refundable ticket?

Yesterday was no exception to this rule. If you look at the "Royal Caribbean" forum there is a thread from yesterday where 40 people missed their cruise because of the crazy long delay on this particular flight. It didn't get into San Jusn until 10pm and they didnt hold the 2 ships involved.

[HappiTravels]

We are flying US Air, nonstop, Philly to San Juan on 2/27 (flight is supposed to depart at 9:40am). In the last 3 weeks I decided to check out my flight's daily departure to see if there are any delays. What I've noticed is that during the week and on Sundays, the flight usually leaves on time. However, come Saturdays, the flight is delayed 5, 6 and up to 7 hours:eek:. What's odd is the flights before and after ours(again US Air, PHL to SJU) are all on time. We are arriving the day before our cruise (or should I say night by the looks of things:rolleyes:) but now I'm mad because if I had wanted to take a later flight the airfare would have been cheaper at the time I booked. I also don't look foward to a 7 hour airport stay, followed by a 4hour flight. The reason they state on their website for the delay always seems to be mechanical in nature. Should we be afraid to get on this plane? Would the airline let me change my flight time free of charge, on a non refundable ticket?

 

Yesterday was no exception to this rule. If you look at the "Royal Caribbean" forum there is a thread from yesterday where 40 people missed their cruise because of the crazy long delay on this particular flight. It didn't get into San Jusn until 10pm and they didnt hold the 2 ships involved.

[fbgd]

My suggestion is to get on USAirways web site a day or two before you travel and check the available seats on an earlier flight. If the flight is wide open, you could get to the airport early and try to go on it standby.

 

The seatmap on the airline's own website is a pretty horrible way of gauging whether or not the flight is 'wide open' or not.

 

Try http://www.seatcounter.com and if there are lots of '9' beside each letter on your flight then it is likely to be fairly empty.

[kenish]

Another example of why "same day" flights to the cruise are risky.

 

Looking at the history of the flight (US1071) for yesterday, the flight pushed back from the gate about an hour late, then returned to the gate. It departed many hours later, possibly on a different aircraft. It appears mechanical from the timeline.

 

I see the interesting pattern the OP noted over many weeks. My speculation is the dispatch patterns are different on Saturdays and the "upline" flight(s) must be delay-prone. There's enough of a trend that I would presume the flight will be late on Saturdays. Just to be clear this is a different cause than the big delay yesterday.

[micdee]

Another example of why "same day" flights to the cruise are risky.

 

Looking at the history of the flight (US1071) for yesterday, the flight pushed back from the gate about an hour late, then returned to the gate. It departed many hours later, possibly on a different aircraft. It appears mechanical from the timeline.

 

I see the interesting pattern the OP noted over many weeks. My speculation is the dispatch patterns are different on Saturdays and the "upline" flight(s) must be delay-prone. There's enough of a trend that I would presume the flight will be late on Saturdays. Just to be clear this is a different cause than the big delay yesterday.

 

Fortunately, we are arriving the day before our cruise.

What do you mean by an "upline" flight, and dispatch patterns?

[Globaliser]

What do you mean by an "upline" flight, and dispatch patterns?

The aircraft that operates your flight will be doing so as only one of many that day. Whether it gets to your airport on time depends on all of the things that the aircraft has been doing earlier that day (and the day before), and whether anything has gone wrong somewhere in the aircraft's scheduling. Airline operations are like a finely-choreographed ballet in any attempt to keep the aircraft in the air for 10-18 hours a day every day. The few hours that you'll be on board your aircraft will typically only be a small proportion of that day's work for that aircraft.

 

So if the aircraft that operates your flight is typically scheduled to operate a flight or flights earlier on Saturdays that are particularly prone to being delayed, that would have an impact on the punctuality of your flight.

[Tesla]

Another example of why "same day" flights to the cruise are risky.

 

Looking at the history of the flight (US1071) for yesterday, the flight pushed back from the gate about an hour late, then returned to the gate. It departed many hours later, possibly on a different aircraft. It appears mechanical from the timeline.

 

I see the interesting pattern the OP noted over many weeks. My speculation is the dispatch patterns are different on Saturdays and the "upline" flight(s) must be delay-prone. There's enough of a trend that I would presume the flight will be late on Saturdays. Just to be clear this is a different cause than the big delay yesterday.

 

Yea it entirely too much of a risk to book your flight the same day as departure.