Oh man -- Delta cancelled sister's flight (did not contact her)

[Luv2Roam]

My sister just called from the South Bend, IN airport..
Delta canceled her flight, and she found out when she arrived this morning to check in.
Delta told her it was due to weather. But she said there was only a few clouds in the sky and drizzle. She thinks it really is because there were only three passengers on this flight.
No one from Delta called her about the cancellation. SHe asked them why she was not called. They just said they "try" to call all passengers.
So she got up early, had her son drive her and drop her off, etc.
She said they really did try to fly her another way, either through Indy or Chicago. But everything was booked.
She is booked for an evening flight and not arrive here until very late.
She was really disappointed and upset. But I told her to go home and relax, take a nap, etc. Better she is stranded before she leaves than at another airport mid country for hours.

Thankfully we did not have any plans until Saturday. I can imagine how frustrating this situation would be if it was a family vacation, with set evening plans in WDW!

She is stressed and bummed about this the way it is.

Bad start to a good trip.....

 

[Brian Noble]

Most airlines that cancel a flight due to light loads usually blame "mechanical difficulties", because those are unverifiable.

 

[CarolA]

It's weather!
Delta has cancelled two morning flights out of Hartford today (and they were pretty full!) I think the weather problem is in Atlanta which screws up the ENTIRE Delta system! LOL! Remeber weather where you are is NOT always the issue. If the plane has to come from or go to a site with weather issues you are impacted.

It is actually pretty rare to get a call on weather cancellations. They don't usually have that much notice and LOTS of passengers to call. Today when they seem to be cancelling BUNCHES of flights your odds of a call are slim. I am watching my 1:45 flight out of Hartford closely (although I have no other way to get home if they do cancel it)

The best practice is to call the morning before you leave on any flight. (I always just check on line)

 

[Luv2Roam]

She was flying through to Cincinnati.
The good part is she had two stops: Cincinnati and Tallahassee.
On her later flight she has only one stop.
I suspect too the cancelation was due to only three passengers.
I just hope all goes well tonight! Then that will be BAD news!

 

[PlaneJoy1]

Two flights were cancelled into South Bend last night and one (the 11 p.m. flight made it in). It was weather in Cincinnati last night that caused the cancellation.

 

[PlaneJoy1]

Two flights were cancelled into South Bend last night and one (the 11 p.m. flight made it in). It was weather in Cincinnati last night that caused the cancellation.

BTW, the 11 p.m. probably made up the 6:15 a.m. this morning that did operate.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Cross our fingers. She contacted Delta direct.
Them not calling her was her fault. She booked through Expedia. And they had an old phone number for her.
The Delta rep got her on an earlier flight than this evening. But she knows it is subject to change.
She will just call me when she KNOWS she is boarding!
At least she seems in better spirits. I know how frustrating that is to arrive at an airport only to be told the flight is canceled.

 

[DebbieB]

I had a flight cancelled by Delta on a business trip about 3 weeks ago (PIT/ATL). It was at 3:45pm, they called me at home at 1:30pm, luckily right when I was ready to walk out the door. They said mechancial problems. They put me on a 6:40pm flight. I wondered about the cancellation because I was talking to a couple next to me and they said their travel agent said the 6:40 flight has 80 some empty seats, so maybe they cancelled mine so that they could combine flights. Then on the way home, there was a 4:15pm and a 6:00 flight. I was on the 6:00. When I got to the airport, I noticed they cancelled the 4:15 and there were a bunch of people waiting at the gate to get standby seats on the 6:00. Either they have bad mechanics (causing mechanical cancellations) or they are intentionally combining flights if they are not full (my guess is the latter).

 

[Timon@BWV]

Yesterday was a real thunder bommer hear and tons of rain all day! I live in a suburb of Cincinnati.

 

[CarolA]

I had a flight cancelled by Delta on a business trip about 3 weeks ago (PIT/ATL). It was at 3:45pm, they called me at home at 1:30pm, luckily right when I was ready to walk out the door. They said mechancial problems. They put me on a 6:40pm flight. I wondered about the cancellation because I was talking to a couple next to me and they said their travel agent said the 6:40 flight has 80 some empty seats, so maybe they cancelled mine so that they could combine flights. Then on the way home, there was a 4:15pm and a 6:00 flight. I was on the 6:00. When I got to the airport, I noticed they cancelled the 4:15 and there were a bunch of people waiting at the gate to get standby seats on the 6:00. Either they have bad mechanics (causing mechanical cancellations) or they are intentionally combining flights if they are not full (my guess is the latter).

Or... they had a plane go bad that was full. Those flights were empty so the equipment was moved. Happens.

The other issue is if something breaks in PIT, Delta is not fully staffed there. So an item which might take 20 minutes to fix in Atlanta takes two hours since Delta has to wait on contract Mechanics (probably from USAir). I once waited over an hour in Memphis for the fuel guy. The pilot was SO MAD he was screaming at everyone. The guys we needed worked for NW and they weren't in a hurry to service AA.

 

[DebbieB]

On my flight to ATL, I checked the status of the plane coming from ATL to PIT, it was cancelled also, so the plane never made it to PIT. Not sure what happened with the earlier flight on my return date. It may have been coincidental that flights were cancelled both ways but it was my first time flying Delta and it left a bad taste in my mouth. I had a Northwest flight cancelled in March (PIT/MSP). I guess I miss the reliability of USAir, I never had a flight cancelled by them. Since they downsized their operations at PIT, I'm forced to take other airlines.

 

[Brian Noble]

Empty USAir flights PIT-HPN used to have "mechanical difficulties" all the time. I ended up flying to Newark and being bussed up the hudson valley more than once.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Well, she is on her way.
I was concerned because she was going to cancel this trip if she could not make it today. And I don't blame her. It is just a long weekend trip, and the ticket wasn't too high. But it was not cheap either.
She will be on her final step soon. According to her itinerary Delta appears to have tried to do right for her.
Her assigned seat into Orlando is First Class.
I suppose that is why the desk at South Bend did not offer her this flight. (Only offered a 2 hour later flight than what she is on now.) Maybe the only available seating was First Class.
Too bad it took a phone call directly to Delta to get on a half decent flight. I would think a counter rep could have done the same.

It is always interesting to read other's views. And it is good to know what can happen when and if this happens to us.

 

[delilah]

Something like this happened to us when I was attending a CME course at Kiawah Island, SC. Since my hospital pays for the tuition for the CME course and for my airline ticket, they specified which flights we would take from Indianapolis to Charleston. To save $20 (total) on air fare, they booked us on Midway, which left Charleston early--about 6-7 am. At the time, my son was 2 1/2, and my first choice was a flight that left about 11am on USAir. We got up about 3 or 4 am, drove to the airport. We got to the gate about an hour or so before the flight was scheduled to depart. No attendants, no plane. 30 minutes before the flight--no plane, but there were some attendants bustling about. We asked them about the flight--no information.
Take off time--still no plane; the attendant gave some vague explanation about no pilot and mechanical difficulties. Finally, about an hour after the flight was scheduled to leave, they cancelled the flight and gave us tickets for another airline. Guess what. It was the US Air flight I originally wanted to book. However, we could have done without the four hour lay over at Charleston airport, which was longer than the total flight time to Indianapolis. Of course, I told the lady in the travel office all about our experience, and that in the future, I would like to choose the flight times to suit our needs. We are going to the same conference this summer, and are driving. It will probably be easier on the family than the Charleston airport experience.