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IcerocketWhy Your Flight Got Canceled
No, it’s not because the airline hates you
Posted 09.17.2008 at 2:56 pm
3 Comments
Last year, U.S. airlines canceled 21,000 flights. Or rather, a small cadre of guys canceled 21,000 flights. Every gate agent reports up the ladder at a given airline to a set of command-center managers. We spoke with a few of the people who make the big decisions to learn what factors influence whether they cancel a flight.
Number one is no surprise: the weather. Here we present the other four. Knowing them won’t get your plane moving, but it will make for conversation the next time you’re stranded at the airport bar.
Instant Expert: Launch Your Quick and Easy Primer on Just About Everything at popsci.com/instantexpert.
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Comments
from Palo Alto, CA
well, it happened once to my cousin while she was at our house and, well, i wasn't that sad, but i guess lots of things could happen that's bad, too.
6 out of 52 people found this comment helpfulHow was that comment about his/her cousin helpful?
13 out of 40 people found this comment helpfulfrom Montreal, Quebec
Get this
1 out of 5 people found this comment helpfulLast year I had to fly to London. So I bought a 2 way ticket way in advance. On my trip there, we had to stop and load some more passengers in Halifax. When we landed in HFX, they told us to wait 30min for something to clear (message wasn't the clearest). Then those 30min became 4 hours. They didn't let us leave the plane either..So after 4h30min of waiting, we took off for another 7h of staying confined to those small, uncomfortable economy class seats.
On the way back, as I was getting ready to board the plane and return home, guess what happened.... plane got hit by a lightning on the runway... I was like: did I just hear that right? A LIGHTNING?! So another delay 8 hours waiting @ Gatwick... GREAT!
- DiGGY