This Flight Has Been Delayed

In an ideal world, every airline would run its flights exactly according to the schedule it has published. We all though that such a world is merely ideal thinking, as any number of things, both within and outside the airline's control, can screw up such a schedule. In fact, when you think about the number of things that can ground a flight -- weather, air traffic congestion, mechanical issues, crew staffing, security issues -- it's a small wonder that flights ever operate on time.

In my humble opinion, based solely on anecdotal evidence, passengers (at least those who fly semi-regularly) understand the cause of delays and are willing to tolerate them. Delays generally don't drive passengers nuts; lack of communication by the airlines and a perceived unwillingness to do something about them does.

It's not rocket science, people. Any airline that wants to maintain good customer relations needs to do the following when a delay occurs (be it before or after boarding): promptly, and the key is promptly, announce the delay, announce the reason for it, announce how long the delay will last (or, if indefinite, announce when the next update will occur), and explain the measures the airline is taking to minimize the delay.

We're a forgiving bunch of travelers. Even if a flight is two hours late, passengers will harbor no hard feelings as long as they genuinely believe that the airline is doing everything within its power to get things moving as fast as they can. It can be as simple as the captain announcing that he has requested a more direct routing from air traffic control in order to make up some of the lost time, even if there's no guarantee that ATC will be able to fulfill the request. Of course, measures to increase passenger comfort (e.g. starting the movie while still on the ground, performing an early drink run, allowing people to use their cell phones, deboarding the aircraft) go a long way to maintaining this customer goodwill as well. Aloofness by the airline, such as a refusal to change the departure time on the gate display when there is still no aircraft in sight 15 minutes after the flight was supposed to leave, is what gets to people.

The bottom line is that delays are fact of life when it comes to air travel. When people bitch and moan about delays, they're really complaining about a lack of communication on the airline's part. Any rational person would understand that a plane shouldn't take off in the middle of the raging thunderstorm. Better to wait it out 90 minutes than to risk life and limb on the chance you might still get there on time. But when a plane sits on the tarmac for those 90 minutes with no word from the cockpit regarding the reason and the estimated time that the plane can proceed, people get pissed off. Again, it's not rocket science. Frankly, I can't imagine why the folks running certain airlines (US Airways, I'm talking to you!) aren't able to get a handle on what seem to be simple customer service measures.

Oh, and if you book a late afternoon flight from LaGuardia to O'Hare and happen to miss your 40 minute connection to the ongoing flight, that's your fault, not the airlines. Anyone who flies regularly to one of those two airports will tell you so as well.