Punxsutawney Phil had it right this year. His prediction on Groundhogs Day of six more weeks of winter, seems to have been prescient. Heck, I’m sitting in the midst of 20+ inches of snow in Springfield, Va., outside of Washington DC. The airlines were paying attention to Punxsutawney Phil this year like never before and already making plans to cancel flights in case of storms.
Once upon a time, the standard operating procedure for airlines was to hope for the best when they heard that a storm was coming. They, justifiably fretted about making a mistake and canceling flights for nothing more than a dusting when meteorologists may have predicted feet of snow or widespread ice. Alternatively, they worried about canceling flights for a simple rainstorm instead of the predicted hurricane.
The results of these decisions (and, honestly, the limitations of technology, but more on that later) were that airports would find themselves filled with distressed passengers. Some airports would deploy cots and blankets that were stored for just such emergencies when nature struck.
Airlines, attempting to do what they thought passengers wanted, loaded planes and lined them up on the runway in the hopes that they could take off during a possible break in the weather. In the meantime, other planes were circling above the airport awaiting permission to land. And then when they landed, often these incoming passengers found no open gates to deplane, meaning more delays and frustrations.
All of these efforts to move passengers from Point A to Point B resulted in the airlines being eviscerated by passenger rights zealots when tarmac delays mounted into the hours.
From the airlines’ point of view, they were facing a situation of, “Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.” Or, perhaps they were learning that, “No good deed goes unpunished.”
This most recent series of storms that barreled through the mid-Atlantic and mid-West with more on their way, as I tap this in to the computer, has provided an extensive test of the airlines’ new matrix for dealing with weather delays and possible cancellations.
The airlines are actually proactively canceling flights, sometimes days before departure. One would think that these cancellations would be met by the public with a large degree of irritation. But, that’s not the case.
The flying public are fairly savvy and resourceful. They know that Acts of God like snowstorms and hurricanes can close airports and result in canceled flights. The flying public for years has been understanding, however, the airlines seemed to think that passengers would prefer to take a chance on whether or not their flight could get off the ground rather than reschedule. So, in the passengers’ interest, airlines dutifully did their best to fly no matter what the weather.
Not any more. More cancellations are coming sooner than ever when airlines are faced with weather events.
The airlines have learned that passengers are happier when they have time to plan for changes rather than being faced with long waits at airports and on tarmacs. The airlines also realize that they can save a 747-load of money by making decisions earlier and setting up equipment and crews for quicker and better use after the storm passes.
Some say that Delta’s experience a decade when executives made the decision to cancel hundreds of flights in the face of a predicted ice storm in Atlanta was the “ah-hah!” moment for the industry. Ironically, the storm never materialized because temperatures stayed above freezing.
The executives reportedly thought they might be fired for making the wrong decision that canceled so many flights. Surprisingly, the response from passengers was understanding and many of them made alternative plans. Passengers were pleased to have been kept out of the rigors of poor-weather travel and they appreciated the time they were given to make alternative plans.
It was a revelation!
Passengers like knowing what is happening, even if they don’t like it. Passengers hate uncertainty, waiting, feeling like they are totally out of control and feeling that they are being misled and misinformed.
But it took time for technology to catch up with this newly developing passenger/airline paradigm. Only in the last couple of years have the airlines had the ability to contact all their passengers and offer them alternative arrangements. Communicating with all passengers and rebooking them in case of massive cancellations, until recently, has been physically and technically impossible.
The truth be told, technology has had a lot to do with the new ways that airlines can handle weather delays. Automatic telephone software, the ubiquity of cell phones, text messaging and automatic rescheduling software have changed the cancellation world for both passengers and the airlines.
Airlines, with automatic dialing software, can now almost immediately notify passengers via cell phones of changes in schedules and cancellations. In the old days, before such software and the widespread use of cell phones, getting the word out would have been physically impossible.
Plus, new rescheduling software and automatic notification systems allow the airlines to let passengers know what’s happening with their scheduled journey with plenty of time for them to make alternative arrangements or change the computer-generated rescheduling. Most passengers, in fact, don’t make changes.
It’s a new world. The airline executive mindset and the technical ability to communicate with passengers and automatically rebook thousands of travelers within minutes has changed the world for both the airlines and for those of us faced with impending storms.
Before the February 5-6 storms that dumped upwards of 20 inches of snow on the DC-area airports, virtually every airline canceled the bulk of their flights in and out of the airport. Today as Baltimore’s BWI airport and the Philadelphia airport both face another foot or more, of snow, USAirways and Southwest are both canceling flights. Southwest has announced that no planes will remain overnight in Philadelphia.
This all makes perfect sense. Passengers know what is happening. Airlines can make plans for planes and crews plus, hundreds of thousands of dollars are saved. Newspapers don’t publish the disaster PR photos of hundreds of stranded passengers (well maybe a few from those who never seem to get the message) and airplanes stuck on the tarmac for hours.
Now that the airlines understand passenger like to be clearly informed and they have the technology to implement changes, weather delay disasters can be avoided.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
“All of these efforts to move passengers from Point A to Point B resulted in the airlines being eviscerated by passenger rights zealots when tarmac delays mounted into the hours.”
A “Zealot” is generally regarded as someone who holds passionate and extreme views that fly in the face of reason. I would hardly call somebody who disapproves of passengers being stuck in a plane for eight hours a “zealot.” In addition, during the entire remainder of the article, you seem to approve of the new trend towards proactive cancellations, as a win-win for everybody involved.
Perhaps a change of wording is in order… “advocate”, perhaps?
I’m sitting at home today, in the comfort of my home office catching up on some work. The reason? The airline called me last night to tell me they were canceling my flight to Newark today and re-scheduling me to tomorrow. Is it an inconvenience? Yes…costing me a day’s business. Is it better than sitting in an airport lounge or in a plane on a runway, wondering when we are going to leave? Absolutely!!!
The airlines have no control on weather, but they can control how they react to it. And I have to say that this time, they’re doing it right!
The results of these decisions (and, honestly, the limitations of technology, but more on that later) were that airports would find themselves filled with distressed passengers.
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Of course they would, years ago, they didnt have the “weather waiver” that allows passengers to REBOOK due to inclement weather. They now waive fees ahead of anticipated winter storms. Now, the passenger is NOT forced to fly on their original itinerary and/or pay a CHANGE FEE.
Proactive cancelling of flights still generate thousands of irritated passengers who still think the airlines should accomodate them with hotels and vouchers. I hear it all the time, YOU cancelled my flight, I’m due……..(fill in the blank) even due to a storm like today.
Yes, proactive weather cancellations that we have seen this past week are helpful but airlines, (or at least Delta), still have more work to do to get it right. here’s my point by example. My wife flew to Charlottesville, VA (CHO) on Monday for a meeting Tuesday. Tuesday night she was to fly to Baton Rouge (BTR) for a meeting Wednesday, and then on Boston for a meeting Thursday. Tuesday morning, Delta cancelled her flight Tuesday afternoon and advised her by text message. So far so good. They reaccommodated her to a flight to BTR Wednesday morning … also good. But they reticketed her to the Wednesday morning flight without her approval. It turns out that the Wednesday morningn flight would get her to BTR too late for her meeting. In addition, DL advised her Tuesday night that her connecting flight Atlanta to Boston was cancelled. She called her travel agent (me) and we reserved flights to get her home to San Jose Wednesday night but since Delta had reticketed her to Baton Rouge without her approval there was nothing more we could do. Delta had essentially taken control of her ticket and we could not issue a ticket for her to come home. We tried to call Delta reservations to take care of this last detail and their phone lines were busy for hours. We, and she, ended up spending several hours, involving more than one phone call getting through, to finalize the ticketing. There could be technological solution. maybe Delta could add a button or instruction to their text message to reply with authorization to re-ticket, or alternatively, to call Delta or their travel agent. Delta’s re-ticketing without authorization caused frustration and wasted time, unnecessarily turning what could have been an easy fix into a drawn out incident.
Yes, proactive weather cancellations that we have seen this past week are helpful but airlines, (or at least Delta), still have more work to do to get it right. here’s my point by example. My wife flew to Charlottesville, VA (CHO) on Monday for a meeting Tuesday. Tuesday night she was to fly to Baton Rouge (BTR) for a meeting Wednesday, and then on Boston for a meeting Thursday. Tuesday morning, Delta cancelled her flight Tuesday afternoon and advised her by text message. So far so good. They reaccommodated her to a flight to BTR Wednesday morning … also good. But they reticketed her to the Wednesday morning flight without her approval. It turns out that the Wednesday morningn flight would get her to BTR too late for her meeting. In addition, DL advised her Tuesday night that her connecting flight Atlanta to Boston was cancelled. She called her travel agent (me) and we reserved flights to get her home to San Jose Wednesday night but since Delta had reticketed her to Baton Rouge without her approval there was nothing more we could do. Delta had essentially taken control of her ticket and we could not issue a ticket for her to come home. We tried to call Delta reservations to take care of this last detail and their phone lines were busy for hours. We, and she, ended up spending several hours, involving more than one phone call getting through, to finalize the ticketing. There could be technological solution. maybe Delta could add a button or instruction to their text message to reply with authorization to re-ticket, or alternatively, to call Delta or their travel agent. Delta’s re-ticketing without authorization caused frustration and wasted time, unnecessarily turning what could have been an easy fix into a drawn out incident.
Should say great post! Looking forward to seeing your next one!
@Frank Growing up in the midwest, I know what a storm is. O’Hare was the ‘local airport’ for a good portion of my life. Whoever decided to build a major airport in the midwest must have been insane. I know what the extreme ice and wind of that area feel like on the roads. I have no desire to feel them on an airplane. So, I’ve never complained about the decision to cancel a flight for weather.
My complaint has been, on occasion, the choice to delay it for so long. For instance, this holiday, I few from California to Denver to Chicago, and on to South Bend. There was a weather delay in Denver that caused me to miss my flight from Chicago to South Bend, so I was automatically rebooked on the 7pm flight, which was already delayed till 9pm. The weather was hideous. And we had a family gathering planned for the next afternoon. There is also a bus that costs $36 that takes two hours to go from Chicago to South Bend.
One doesn’t need to be a pilot to look out the window, see icecicles hanging off the planes and say, “Hmm, we’re not going anywhere anytime soon.” However, until the airline made the decision to cancel the flight, my checked luggage was trapped, and if I threw the ticket away, I had to eat the cost (they are trying to process a refund for the unused portion of the ticket, which they do sometimes when they have to bus people to the regional airports. This is nice of them).
Rather than giving up at 6pm, they waited until 11:40pm to cancel the flight. The phone agent was very confusing about what would happen to my checked luggage if I took the bus. So, I had to wait in the customer service line for the right answer.
The bus left at 7:15am. So, either take a shuttle ride to a hotel and back, and lose an hour’s sleep, or sleep at the airport hotel. :P $119 for 5 hours sleep and a shower, by the time it was all said and done. If the airline had cancelled the flight at 6pm, I have friends in the area, could have grabbed my bags, and visited friends I haven’t seen in years. :P