When it comes to excuses, frequent travelers have heard it all from their airline.
Flights aren’t simply delayed. They’re held up because of a “mechanical,” “weather,” or “ATC hold.” That’s ATC, as in Air Traffic Control. (In other words, weather.)
And then there are more unusual delay reasons. “Catering” can mean everything from the caterers being late, to problems with the carts, to forgetting the coffee.
“Fuel” could be either not enough fuel, or too much. (Flying with too much fuel in a lightly loaded plane can be dangerous, not to mention extra weight the airline doesn’t need.)
“Crew” can mean that some part of the flight crew was delayed coming in on a late flight, or that the pilots would not have enough rest time between flights. It can even mean that one of the flight attendants overslept.
And “customer” can mean anything from baggage issues, to seat assignment problems, to the airline holding flights for late-arriving connecting passengers.
Sometimes airlines just blame a delay on “awaiting equipment.” That either means the plane is coming in late, or they took the plane for one flight and moved it to another flight with a higher priority.
But South African Airways wins the award today for the most straightforward explanation of a 3 1/2 hour mechanical delay on their flight from Johannesburg to Washington Dulles.
The simple message in the airline computer: “Aircraft defects.”
