Sheepdip

What is the point of boarding you on time only to tell you when you're buckled in that there's a 1 hour 35 minute delay and we're to stay on the plane

Would have missed my connecting flight and subsequent meeting and had to have flown back virtually immediately (assuming the return flights were on time)!

To add insult to injury, when I finally got the pilot to take us back to the terminal, the US Airways ticketing staff said they would 'request' a ticket refund

I have to wait 7-10 days to see if they will

A colleague who flew Delta, from the same airport, got there on time!!

Warrington Wolf

Yeah, why do they do that?

My wife uses US Scare between Philly and Boston most weeks, and they do that regularly. I check one of the flight-tracking websites when she's returning and they'll board even when they know that there's a serious delay.

A couple of months ago, we were returning from Savannah and pushed back from the gate, when the Captain told us that there was low cloud in Philly so we would be delayed for 3 hours . Oh, and by the way we wouldn't be returning to the gate either. So we all sat on the plane on the tarmac for 3 hours. There was one or two pissed-off people on board that day, I'll tell you!

Just by-the-by and it's probably common knowledge, but you're entitled to compensation if your flight to/from the UK (or anywhere within the EU) is delayed over certain amount of time (Google EU flight delay compensation for details). I managed to get $1200 compo from US Air when they cancelled my flight back from Manchester to the US - it took many calls but was well worth it!

sir_eccles

I believe there are now similar rules in the US since perhaps last month.

tonrob

So that they're ready to go in case they're moved up the queue (or re-routed or whatever), which happens often. If all the passengers were shopping around the airport, in bars etc. to kill time during the delay then this would be impossible.

scrubbedexpat091

bingo.

When things like ground stops and flow control are in effect there are times where there might only be a 5-10 window to get into the air, if your at the gate sitting in the terminal well you might miss that window and end up with a further delay.

There were times when we were told a delay would be an hour or 2 due to ground stops and then be told, if you can board and off the gate in 20 minutes you can leave at this time type situation.

Passengers tend to think very simple in terms of airlines and dont fully understand how things work.

Brit3964

Certain airports are notorious for delays even long after the weather has moved through. CLT and EWR are (in)famous in that respect. CLT is USeless Air's hub so expect delays anytime bad weather is in that area.

EWR has made an art out of weather delays. If the ceiling is 5000ft or below or they have excessive crosswinds expect BIG delays especially later in the day. Earlier in the year I saw them shutdown both parallel runways and use 11-29 only because the crosswinds were 50mph+ Luckily I didn't have to fly that day but I can imagine the irate passengers in the terminal. Not fun.

Michael

I suspect the same is true for takeoffs as landings where if you miss your time slot on landing, you are placed on the wait queue and have to wait until some other plane misses it's time slot or an unscheduled time slot becomes available before anyone from the queue gets clearance to land. This is why all those flights to or from Europe into or out of JFK during rush hour don't like to be delayed.

Your plane probably missed it takeoff time slot and was put on the wait queue and could be called anytime some other plane misses their slot or an uncheduled time slot becomes available.

So if you fly with a carrier that has a habit of being a few minutes late during rush hour, you may wait a long time to get the clearance.

joto

Sitting in the plane on a runway or taxiway, probably means that another plane might need that space at the gate.
I have been sitting in a plane coming in for about 20 mins waiting for another plane to clear the gate area.

deftoneuk

I had this happen to me last year flying AMS to DFW, we boarded the aircraft and pulled away from the terminal, then got told it would be 2.5hrs before we could leave. We sat in the plane for 3hrs... which sucked, before they told us the flight was cancelled.

Eventually got a later flight but with 2 connections instead of flying direct, damn KLM!!

tonrob

Seen some slagging off of multiple airlines in this thread for sitting around on tarmac. Is this the airlines' fault or air traffic control? Would hate to see people avoid one airline only to go for another where the odds of a wait are exactly the same.

Brit3964

Probably a bit of both. Flow control (ATC) is often the problem when bad weather or a lot of heavy traffic hits certain airports (think ORD or ATL at peak times) and then if a flight is late out of or into a gate (airplane or crew no-shows for example) that can also cause delays.

N1cky

I get that at big airports but I flew out of Burbank last week and sat on the tarmac for 40 mins before we took off. For those who haven't been to Burbank, there is 1 departure lounge about the size of my living room, a bar with 10 stools, and a magazine kiosk. You could have rounded us up with a sheepdog in less than 5 minutes.

tonrob

However small the airport, if the pilot's suddenly given a 5 or even a 10 minute window (to wheels up) then there's no chance of making it. And there's always someone having a monster dump, or some clown that's wandered off landside for a fag. They can't take the chance, and nor should they for the sake of the other passengers.

Warrington Wolf

And another thing..........

'Our Maud' has gone to Boston again today on business. She had a reservation on the 6.15am from Philly (which is criminal in itself because she needs to get-up at 4am, and as a consequence so do I). Anyway, the phone rings at 4.30am and there a computer-message from US Scare that her flight has been cancelled. Oh, and at the end of the message it say 'thanks for flying US Air'. AWESOME! (as they say).

After a frantic call to US Airway's 'customer service', she got on a later flight. It appears that they cancel flights when the flight isn't fully booked and they can get all the passengers on the next flight.

Although she got to Boston, there are some questions/comments that spring to mind:
- I understand that US Air are running a business, but who exactly is serving who?
- Our Maud is only spending the day in Boston, so now she's nearly coming back before she gets there.
- Why couldn't they cancel it last night so the we could get more time in the land of nod?

And I'll bet that her flight home is cancelled/delayed too....

OK, end of rant!

Sheepdip

We were flying out of our regional airport (i.e. no shops) and there were just 6 passengers! Could have (and in fact did) board in 5 minutes.