A Lot of Flights Being Canceled?

[lanejudy]

OP stated her travel is in October -- so during hurricane season in FL. There can be fantastic days, there can be rainy days. A hurricane isn't all that likely, though always a possibility at that time of year. Weather in other areas of the country can impact flights regardless of the weather at your physical location.

Generally speaking, airlines have had a really rough time for the past two years. Many flights get cancelled or consolidated. It seems most are flying full or nearly full, meaning there aren't always seats for those displaced by a cancelled flight. Cancellations occur for a variety of reasons, though I do think a lot lately may be staffing issues or a domino effect. Whether any or all of these issues may be resolved in the next 6 months is anyone's guess -- but if a cancelled flight or missed connection would ruin anyone's vacation plans, then travel insurance is highly recommended.

 

[SG131]

I just flew a few weeks ago and it was an absolute mess. Thankfully we were only delayed not cancelled, but the person sitting next to us on the plane was originally flying on another airline. Their morning flight had been cancelled and the airline was unable to rebook them that day. I would definitely give yourself the extra day with the way things are right now and keep driving as a backup plan.

 

[sjuncfan]

It's Spring

Wondering where you live. Spring time is when there are more storms in large parts of the country. I grew up in Oklahoma, right in the middle of tornado alley. March to June is when severe thunderstorms and tornadoes hit a large section of the US. We were at MCO earlier this month for over 8hrs when severe thunderstorms kept rolling into Orlando. We had cruises for many years in Jan and luckily never ran into bad weather. Have done 3 cruises in March and have had weather delays on all 3. Next cruise is in June, so hoping we won't have issues then since we're sailing out of Seattle and will be flying from Ohio.

I fixed it - I meant to say thunderstorms are a summer issue. I'm in the mid Atlantic and the bad storms are usually July/August but weather patterns are a lot more random now (won't get into that discussion here...). The one time we had to get in the car and drive to a cruise because our flight was cancelled was late July or early August.

 

[katmigordon]

We're in Phoenix - Driving is so NOT an option.

I just flew a few weeks ago and it was an absolute mess. Thankfully we were only delayed not cancelled, but the person sitting next to us on the plane was originally flying on another airline. Their morning flight had been cancelled and the airline was unable to rebook them that day. I would definitely give yourself the extra day with the way things are right now and keep driving as a backup plan.

 

[DCLMP]

Are a lot of flights being canceled these days? I knew it was happening last year, but is it still a big issue? The way they're talking on one of the threads on here it's as likely to happen as not and now I'm freaking out about our flight into Florida in October and wondering if we should plan to get there more than one day early.

It seems like there’s been more than usual the last 6 months, but it’s impossible to predict the weather in October. If it eases your mind I would go a day earlier.

 

[DCLMP]

OP stated her travel is in October -- so during hurricane season in FL. There can be fantastic days, there can be rainy days. A hurricane isn't all that likely, though always a possibility at that time of year. Weather in other areas of the country can impact flights regardless of the weather at your physical location.

Generally speaking, airlines have had a really rough time for the past two years. Many flights get cancelled or consolidated. It seems most are flying full or nearly full, meaning there aren't always seats for those displaced by a cancelled flight. Cancellations occur for a variety of reasons, though I do think a lot lately may be staffing issues or a domino effect. Whether any or all of these issues may be resolved in the next 6 months is anyone's guess -- but if a cancelled flight or missed connection would ruin anyone's vacation plans, then travel insurance is highly recommended.

I agree with this. It’s hard to say whether airlines will increase flights or just increase airfare. I think higher prices are a given. Fuel prices being what they and probably going higher my guess is airlines are not going to want any empty seats. We may not see a big increase in capacity. That being said, I would not hold off buying airfare if you need it.

 

[Rob1872]

We're in Phoenix - Driving is so NOT an option.

It's just a 32 hour drive. Driving is an option. (It just isn't a GOOD option!!) LOL

 

[DCLMP]

There are a lot of airports within a half day or 1 day drive to PC. Another option if MCO flights are full and you need to rebook. You might have to pay an astronomical fee for a car rental though.. on top of the astronomical cost to fill the tank…but hey it’s an option. Just not a great one.

 

[Cheburashka]

Are a lot of flights being canceled these days? I knew it was happening last year, but is it still a big issue? The way they're talking on one of the threads on here it's as likely to happen as not and now I'm freaking out about our flight into Florida in October and wondering if we should plan to get there more than one day early.

I flew both ways last month and didn't have any issue with flight changes or cancellations, or notice any issue with that when I saw the arrivals/departures boards at the airports.

 

[wfjny]

I would argue that "this time of year" should be the most calm. No snow storms (winter), no thunderstorms (summer), no hurricanes (fall). Plus summer and winter are generally busier travel times.

Spring should be the best time to fly so if it's this bad now, the summer and fall are going to be an absolute disaster. Things do get busy with spring break but the weekend I saw so many issues should not have been a huge spring break time... the weeks before and after Easter are likely much more popular spring break weeks.

Yup, I understand. To defend myself, I live in the South East, and not 10 minutes before I started to type this response, the weatherman on our local news said we were about to get the fourth round of severe storms in the past four weeks.

When I lived in New York, I can remember the Yankees and the Mets getting snowed out from a few home games in early April.

One could probably argue that every season has its challenges.

 

[rwjones]

We have been on 14 cruises in the last few years, we always arrive no less than one day prior to sailing. Eliminates some of the stress the day of sailing. These days we also have a back up plan just in case.

 

[Sykes]

We're in Phoenix - Driving is so NOT an option.

Things have been pretty messy lately, but the good news is that with an early flight from Phoenix it's likely that you'll have reasonable alternative options if one of your flights does end up getting canceled--unlike from some smaller airports, AA has a ton of alternative routings that can get you there. Things can still go wrong (e.g. a widespread weather event could make it difficult to find space on another flight), but you have a fair bit less to worry about than those traveling from smaller airports.

 

[meliscan]

I flew out of Ft. Lauderdale this week back to Texas. They had an issue with the bathrooms, should have been fixed this night before when the plane landed in FLL. They held us on the plane for a little over an hour and then had to find us another plane. I got home 6 hours late. The flight attendant said there are a lot of cancellations pre and post covid out of FLL. He was saying he has so many people whose vacations are ruined as they are flying in the day the ship leaves. I cruise a lot during hurricane season on on 2 of my 6 cruises out of Port Canaveral we have had to change our flight to arrive in MCO 2 days before sailing vs 1 so now I book to arrive 2 days before. I would be devastated to miss my trip due to a flight issue. That extra night expense is worth the piece of mind.