# Redistributing passengers from delayed flights **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 27, 2014, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685 "2014-09-27T00:11:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685/21 "2014-09-30T19:08:02Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Pro-tip: When you are at the airport and your flight cancels, do NOT just get in line with everybody else to await your turn with the gate agent for re-booking. Instead start walking away then call the central reservations number on your mobile. Unless they are having a system-wide meltdown, you’ll be rebooked before the poor gate agent(s) will have finished 2 or 3 of the umpteen hundred folks in line at the gate. > > Why do I suggest you walk away first? So you don’t give all the rest of the folks sitting around you in the gate area the same idea. This technique is hardly a secret, but every person who doesn’t suddenly get clued in is one less person you’re competing with for space on some other flight. Or you go ahead and get in line, while texting your spouse or trusted other person to contact the reservation number on your behalf 😃 I don’t know if the airport did this, but one time when my flight was delayed due to bad weather, the airline actually got a bus and put everyone on the bus to drive us to our destination (a 5 hour drive). Seems like that would be an option for at least some of the delayed flights - obviously not ALL, but there are a lot of destinations that are drivable from Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685/22 "2014-09-30T19:12:39Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > I did just this when we (my family and I) flew into Detroit in January during the infamous polar vortex when lots (dozens, hundreds, thousands?) of flights were cancelled due to cold weather. > > \ > > I was a day late and out a couple hundred bucks for a rental car and another couple hundred for two hotel rooms. Thanks, United. You realize that airlines don’t control the weather, right? ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685/23 "2014-09-30T19:30:37Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > You realize that airlines don’t control the weather, right? But I never heard of cancelling flights due to cold weather. Snow? Sure. Ice? Yes. But the weather was clear when we landed and clear at the airport we were scheduled to go to. Was there reason to cancel the flight? Maybe… maybe even probably. It was still very frustrating. Also, I’ve seen airlines blame delays on weather when there was no reasonable likelihood. We were to pick up a friend who was flying from one of the NYC area airports to one of the DC area airports. He got delayed in NY, and they blamed weather in the DC area. We were in DC and the weather was clear and sunny. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685/24 "2014-09-30T19:37:34Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Or you go ahead and get in line, while texting your spouse or trusted other person to contact the reservation number on your behalf 😃 > > I don’t know if the airport did this, but one time when my flight was delayed due to bad weather, the airline actually got a bus and put everyone on the bus to drive us to our destination (a 5 hour drive). Seems like that would be an option for at least some of the delayed flights - obviously not ALL, but there are a lot of destinations that are drivable from Chicago. This is a good idea. When one flight is cancelled, calling works fine. When a bunch are cancelled, the airline reservation systems quickly clog up. Doing this puts you in two lines at once. When Heathrow was shut down due to snow just before Christmas a few years ago, my daughter was stranded there. (In a hotel, at least.) The British Air phone and on-line reservation systems were totally useless. Her boyfriend managed to get her rebooked by Skyping into their 800 number equivalent in South Africa. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685/25 "2014-09-30T20:24:49Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > But I never heard of cancelling flights due to cold weather. Snow? Sure. Ice? Yes. But the weather was clear when we landed and clear at the airport we were scheduled to go to. Was there reason to cancel the flight? Maybe… maybe even probably. There may be union or OSHA rules that limit working temperatures for airline ramp workers, especially if they’re far outside the norm for that airport. ---
**Author:** ![troubledwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@troubledwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troubledwater)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685/26 "2014-10-01T00:44:55Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > I don’t know if the airport did this, but one time when my flight was delayed due to bad weather, the airline actually got a bus and put everyone on the bus to drive us to our destination (a 5 hour drive). Seems like that would be an option for at least some of the delayed flights - obviously not ALL, but there are a lot of destinations that are drivable from Chicago. I had overlooked this, that ground transportation would be an option for at least some people. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685/27 "2014-10-01T01:16:18Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > There may be union or OSHA rules that limit working temperatures for airline ramp workers, OMG that made me laugh. Yes, the temperatures they’re limited to are that of the surface of Pluto and the Sun. Lightening is a different story. ---
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685/28 "2014-10-01T01:26:24Z")
> [@troubledwater](#): > > I had overlooked this, that ground transportation would be an option for at least some people. It was the only option for me on Friday - me and three friends, a rental car, and a 19 hour drive from Chicago to Rhode Island. I had joked on our arrival in Chicago that interstate 90 runs through. “Just hop on, turn right at the end, and we’re home!” It was a lot less funny four days later. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685/29 "2014-10-01T07:03:20Z")
> [@KCB615](#): > > It was the only option for me on Friday - me and three friends, a rental car, and a 19 hour drive from Chicago to Rhode Island. I had joked on our arrival in Chicago that interstate 90 runs through. “Just hop on, turn right at the end, and we’re home!” It was a lot less funny four days later. Four days? I drove from Boston to Urbana in one straight through (with a driver) and went from Urbana to NY in one by myself. You must have done a lot of sightseeing! ---
**Author:** ![Shadez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Shadez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadez)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685/30 "2014-10-01T11:02:04Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Four days? I drove from Boston to Urbana in one straight through (with a driver) and went from Urbana to NY in one by myself. You must have done a lot of sightseeing! I think they mean that when they first arrived in Chicago (four days previously) they made the joke. When it came time to leave on Friday, they had trouble and regretting making that joke. Could be wrong of course. ---
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685/31 "2014-10-01T14:35:41Z")
> [@Shadez](#): > > I think they mean that when they first arrived in Chicago (four days previously) they made the joke. When it came time to leave on Friday, they had trouble and regretting making that joke. Could be wrong of course. This. We made the joke, then had to live it four days later. Only 19 hours were spent in the car. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685/32 "2014-10-01T15:30:04Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > It looks like [average load factor](http://www.transtats.bts.gov/) for a flight these days is 84.1, which means that for every 100 seats on an airplane, ~16 of them are empty. Of course, some planes are completely full, and some are half empty, but that’s the average. I’d be curious to see if it’s different for flights into and out of a major hub like Chicago. As a side note, this is up considerably from past years, which is a good part of airlines’ improved profitability (fees for everything being another major part.) > > I’d imagine between people who are only using Chicago as a hub, and can reroute through Houston, Denver, DC, Atlanta, Newark, etc instead, plus those who get on empty seats on later flights, plus those who don’t need to take the trip and take the travel voucher for later instead, these types of one-off disruptions dissipate fairly quickly. I cannot recall a recent flight that had any empty seats on it. There must be an awful lot of short shuttles going out half full to make that 84% load factor. There was a day a year or so ago that all of American’s computers went down and all their flights were cancelled. This was the airline’s responsibility and I was trapped in O’Hare. They gave me a chit for a hotel, but it was 25 miles away and I was on my own to get there. Since I was rebooked for a flight around 6 I would have had to get up around 3 or 4 to get back to the airport and I just say up all night. It would have been nice if some snack bar had been open though. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685/33 "2014-10-01T18:00:52Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I cannot recall a recent flight that had any empty seats on it. There must be an awful lot of short shuttles going out half full to make that 84% load factor. Since we moved to San Diego, my most frequent route has been between San Diego and San Francisco. Most times we fly, except for busy holiday periods, there are numerous empty seats on the plane. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685/34 "2014-10-01T18:36:54Z")
> [@KCB615](#): > > This. We made the joke, then had to live it four days later. Only 19 hours were spent in the car. Got it. I was on a plane in Denver once with a bunch of kids going to the Merchant Marine Academy. A blizzard shut the airport down. Since the plane was still there, we all left and came back the next day to board it - same seats and everything. The kids were joking around about being late - until they screwed up the deicing and we were delayed yet another few hours. Dead silence then. That was the easiest rebooking ever, though. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685/35 "2014-10-01T19:29:32Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Chicago Center went offline [because of a fire deliberately set](http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/26/travel/chicago-ohare-midway-flights-stopped/index.html?hpt=hp_t1). Some **2,000 flights** were canceled between O’Hare and Midway. The incident is still ongoing and may extend into Saturday. > > [United Airlines](https://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/travel/news/Pages/travelnotices.aspx) is attempting to accommodate travelers, but since this was not arline-caused, it looks like you are on your own. [Same for Delta](http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/traveling-with-us/advisories/chicago-center-atc-outage.html). > > Hardly a kerfuffle. Back in the late 1990’s I was delayed overnight in Sacramento because of technical problems with the air traffic control system in Reno. The airline actually took good care of us…they bussed us to a decent hotel and gave us meal vouchers for the hotel restaurant then bussed us back to the airport the next day. At the time we were told that if it had been a weather issue or another act of God we’d have been on our own but because it was an airport problem we were “covered”. Of course, that was a long time ago and policies change - usually not for the better. These days, you know you’re in trouble when your sitting in the boarding lounge and every single cell phone in the boarding area rings at the same time. Don’t even take the time to answer, go right to the desk and be the first. Calling the airline instead of standing in line for rebooking used to be a great trick but I think everyone knows it now. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685/36 "2014-10-01T19:31:28Z")
> [@troubledwater](#): > > Apparently there was a kerfuffle at O’Hare today and 200 flights were cancelled. > > Assuming flights return to normal tomorrow, how do the airlines find space to get these people to their destinations? These days, flights are overbooked as a matter of course, so it’s not as if those other flights have a bunch of empty seats. > > I realize some people will no longer need to travel - they’ve already missed the wedding, the job interview, the garlic festival, and will be satisfied with a voucher for travel at a later time. But what about all the ones who still need to reach their destination or are heading home? Do the airlines just make higher and higher offers to people willing to be bumped? I can see how that might work on a small scale, but what about when massive storms hit over the holidays and cancel thousands of flights? > > Sorry if this is covered elsewhere. The last time I had a flight cancelled because of weather the next flight they could get me on was 8 days later. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685/37 "2014-10-01T22:25:56Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Back in the late 1990’s I was delayed overnight in Sacramento because of technical problems with the air traffic control system in Reno. The airline actually took good care of us…they bussed us to a decent hotel and gave us meal vouchers for the hotel restaurant then bussed us back to the airport the next day. > > At the time we were told that if it had been a weather issue or another act of God we’d have been on our own but because it was an airport problem we were “covered”. > > Of course, that was a long time ago and policies change - usually not for the better. In 1970 I missed a connecting flight in Houston due to weather at a stop in Philadelphia. The airline put me up in a nice motel and gave me a voucher for food, enough for an excellent dinner in the hotel dining room. Those were really the days. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685/38 "2014-10-01T22:51:04Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Pro-tip: When you are at the airport and your flight cancels, do NOT just get in line with everybody else to await your turn with the gate agent for re-booking. Instead start walking away then call the central reservations number on your mobile. Unless they are having a system-wide meltdown, you’ll be rebooked before the poor gate agent(s) will have finished 2 or 3 of the umpteen hundred folks in line at the gate. > > Why do I suggest you walk away first? So you don’t give all the rest of the folks sitting around you in the gate area the same idea. This technique is hardly a secret, but every person who doesn’t suddenly get clued in is one less person you’re competing with for space on some other flight. Pro tip#2 if the reason you need to be rebooked is they closed the airport (blizzard etc) before you call the airlines call the hotel reserve a room and guarantee it with your credit card. Then call the airline. That night when you aren’t sleeping on the floor of the terminal you can thank me. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685/39 "2014-10-02T02:46:50Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I cannot recall a recent flight that had any empty seats on it. There must be an awful lot of short shuttles going out half full to make that 84% load factor. I’m not doubting your experience, but I’ve taken a number of cross-continent flights over the past 24 months, and while _more_ planes have been completely full than would have been true ten years ago, I’d still say that’s only 60% or so. (In my experience, that is.) ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685/40 "2014-10-02T03:18:45Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I cannot recall a recent flight that had any empty seats on it. There must be an awful lot of short shuttles going out half full to make that 84% load factor. It’s an average -aren’t you a math professor or something? Or are you emeritus? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-passengers-from-delayed-flights/699685.md?page=3)