More Southwest problems

[captainkidd]

So, we had a scheduled flight back from Orlando to Manchester, NH Sunday night at 8:10. We got to the airport to find out the flight had been delayed until 9:15 due to weather in Baltimore, which is where the plane was coming from. No announcements, phone calls or emails - We just looked at the board. We continued looking at the board since there were no announcements AT ALL regarding our flight. All it said was "DELAYED". We asked the first time - They told it was it would be delayed until 10:15. We asked a couple more times, and finally when they said delayed until 11:50PM, we said screw it, asked them to put us on another flight in the morning and stayed at the hotel at the airport.

A.How come SW doesn't phone or email you of any changes?
B.This is the largest carrier in the US. If your plane is going to be delayed 3 hours, can't they get you another plane?

Should I just chalk this up to experience or make a stink with SW about it?

 

[DisneyJoe]

Were you signed up for their alerts? You can check flight status on their website, and there is an option to sign up for email, sms or pda alerts. They can't just send them to you, you need to opt-in. Their site is mobile ready too.

Personally, I use a 3rd party site/app like FlightTracker that can send emails and/or SMS alerts to you - they get the info from main flight status databases.

B.This is the largest carrier in the US. If your plane is going to be delayed 3 hours, can't they get you another plane?

Your plane was coming from Baltimore, which was then going to fly you from Orlando to Manchester, NH. Other planes were probably delayed in Baltimore too - and perhaps other airports. Where would they get another plane from? They don't just have them sitting around with extra flight crews.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

So, we had a scheduled flight back from Orlando to Manchester, NH Sunday night at 8:10. We got to the airport to find out the flight had been delayed until 9:15 due to weather in Baltimore, which is where the plane was coming from. No announcements, phone calls or emails - We just looked at the board. We continued looking at the board since there were no announcements AT ALL regarding our flight. All it said was "DELAYED". We asked the first time - They told it was it would be delayed until 10:15. We asked a couple more times, and finally when they said delayed until 11:50PM, we said screw it, asked them to put us on another flight in the morning and stayed at the hotel at the airport.

A.How come SW doesn't phone or email you of any changes?
B.This is the largest carrier in the US. If your plane is going to be delayed 3 hours, can't they get you another plane?

Should I just chalk this up to experience or make a stink with SW about it?

Checking flight status falls on the passenger, and always has. I have never been alerted of a delay when I have traveled by air, plane, bus, boat, etc. As Joe said, you can set up alerts through all the major carriers so when something changes you get an email or text from them alerting you. My last flight from Palm Beach to Newark was delayed and everytime a change was made I got an email about it.

Also as Joe said, planes aren't just on the ready waiting to take off. With the cost of running a plane they schedule them to the minute for a reason. Also, union rules don't allow a crew to just hop on a plane and take off on a moments notice.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Should I just chalk this up to experience or make a stink with SW about it?

It was a WEATHER delay. I'd say chalk it up to experience.

 

[NYwdwfan]

That's unfortunate - but at least it was on your way home and didn't cut into your trip - my friend flew down Saturday from NY (coincidentally on Southwest) and her flight was delayed an hour and a half, then they sat on the runway another hour, then when they finally took off they had to land in South Carolina because of weather and sat on the runway there at least an hour (that's when she called me). I stopped getting frustrated phone calls after that so I'm guessing they got in soon after. Worst part...they surprised the kids that morning that they were going to Disney and they were SO EXCITED they had trouble sitting still through all the delays.

 

[ArtieJim]

Here's a link to a pretty interesting (and infuriating) article I read regarding airlines and what they don't have to tell you.

http://www.budgettravel.com/feature/8-things-an-airline-would-never-tell-you,4477/?wpisrc=newsletter

Looks like since they kept pushing your flight back it doesn't count as being bumped, which is unfortunate since you're entitled to some pretty decent money these days if that happens.

 

[Pooh Lover]

Disney Joe is correct. Sign up for Flight Status Notification and they will either text or email you your latest departure and arrival times anywhere between 1 and 4 hours before your flight.

 

[sublimesting]

So, we had a scheduled flight back from Orlando to Manchester, NH Sunday night at 8:10. We got to the airport to find out the flight had been delayed until 9:15 due to weather in Baltimore, which is where the plane was coming from. No announcements, phone calls or emails - We just looked at the board. We continued looking at the board since there were no announcements AT ALL regarding our flight. All it said was "DELAYED". We asked the first time - They told it was it would be delayed until 10:15. We asked a couple more times, and finally when they said delayed until 11:50PM, we said screw it, asked them to put us on another flight in the morning and stayed at the hotel at the airport.

A.How come SW doesn't phone or email you of any changes?
B.This is the largest carrier in the US. If your plane is going to be delayed 3 hours, can't they get you another plane?

Should I just chalk this up to experience or make a stink with SW about it?

Hate to say it but welcome to air travel. I fly at least every other week, and have so for the lasy 6 years. I have kept track and flights are at least delayed 25% of the time for all airlines.

 

[mkt]

Also, union rules don't allow a crew to just hop on a plane and take off on a moments notice.

And FAA regulations.

 

[disney4life2008]

Interesting perspective. Obviously if there was bad weather - planes are grounded. What more did you want to hear? Also, most airlines do not call, email or text unless it is a serious event. It is up to the traveler to crosscheck flight status.

 

[devoy1701]

The thing with weather issues and the alerts is that they really don't know when or how long your flight is going to be delayed for. And alot of times the SW website is not as up to date as the people at the counters in Airport. This one is something you just have to roll with.

Also SW's business model doesn't allow for many plans at all to be available for rerouting as most of them are up in the air at all times during peak travel times. So just coming up with another plan would be very difficult if not impossible. I'm not sure many other airlines would be able to do so either.