Delta to Cancel Empty ASA Flights

[j41driver]

Good thing we have free wifi...

Is it free anywhere besides the E food court?

 

[j41driver]

Yes, but they DON'T pay for the fuel then...the largest single cost per flight now.

If the flight is cancelled the fuel cost should be pretty low.

 

[WalterSobchak]

Problem is, if any 121 carrier cancels too many flights the FAA looks into it, and I don't think that a flight can be canceled due to load, at least in the FAAs eyes. That's what I was told by a fed on the jumpseat once.

I'm not sure about whether or not cancellation due to light load is kosher...but the cancellation of "too many" flights isn't really the issue. It is when you cancel/delay the same flight over and over that the particular flight winds up on the DOT Sh*t List.

Completion factor is looked at by the DOT but, if this is really the plan, I don't see how a few flights here and there will bring CF to such a level that it would require scrutiny.

I'm wondering if this is more along the lines of scratching a flight on legs that appear to have a low LF well in advance...perhaps a week or so...and not at the last minute. That way, the pax is notified and reaccomodated prior to the start of their trip.

 

[XPOO]

ASA's Performance Rewards are calculated off completion factor though, and I have to wonder if ASA would be "forgiven" on these instinces.

 

[buscap]

Issn't Skywest in court with Delta over about 50 million, about this very thing?

 

[WalterSobchak]

Issn't Skywest in court with Delta over about 50 million, about this very thing?

$25mil over the failure to pay for Delta-intiated cancels...so, essentially, yes.

 

[wms]

A gate agent isn't the best source of intel on topics like this. If you want to know when the widget on the wall will be changed yes, ops facts no. This will be a ops/PR nightmare for any carrier to simply cancel a R/T ONLY because the load is light. If you have a mechanical and need another a/c to cover it then yes, the sector managers know which flts make operational sense to cxl. Just to say "15 or less make em wait" will not work. What do you tell the pax "you pulled the short straw tonight" see ya in about 3 hours.

DAL does this all the time with their own airplanes. I see it often on my commute. It's not a big deal. It only makes sense that they would do it at the regionals to save fuel. So I wouldn't be surprised if they're going to do this.

But I think in the case of this agent she was taking advantage of an opportunity to take a jab. Why would she have to be trained on a procedure to rebook pax on a canceled flight. It happens all the time for other reasons.