do airlines intentionally delay flights

Do Airlines Intentionally Delay Flights?

Imagine you book a flight.

You arrive early at the airport because you do not want to miss your flight. You have checked in, gone through all the necessary procedures and you are ready to board.

All of a sudden, an announcement is made:

“Ladies and gentlemen, Hans Airways flight 4536 to Abuja has been delayed for one hour due to operational reasons or due to the late arrival of the aircraft from its previous flight. We apologise for the inconvenience.”

You will definitely be disappointed.

If that one hour turns into two hours, you will probably become very angry.

And unfortunately, that anger may eventually be directed at the airline staff.

I understand the frustration.

As cabin crew, I don’t like flight delays either.

In fact, the airline does not like delays either.

Let me explain why.

An aircraft may be scheduled to operate five different routes in one day. The pilots and cabin crew working on that aircraft are operating according to specific duty time limitations and civil aviation regulations.

When one flight is delayed, it can affect the next flight.

Then the next one.

And sometimes, that delay can continue throughout the entire day’s operation.

Remember, an airline is first and foremost a business.

A delayed aircraft means the airline is not operating according to the schedule it planned. That can have financial consequences.

Passengers may miss connections.

Aircraft utilisation is affected.

Crew duty time can become an issue.

Other flights can be pushed back.

And in some situations, the airline may have to make completely different operational arrangements.

So, let me show you how a delay can actually creep into an airline’s operation.

Let Me Show You How a Flight Delay Can Start

Let’s say the first route of the day is Abuja to Owerri.

The scheduled departure time is 8:00 am.

Boarding is scheduled to commence at 7:30 am.

Everything is supposed to go according to plan.

Passengers arrive at the gate.

The cabin crew are ready.

The pilots are ready.

The aircraft is ready.

But then something as simple as congestion at the boarding gate happens.

Perhaps there are many passengers trying to board at the same time.

Perhaps passengers are still arriving at the gate.

Perhaps there is an issue with a passenger’s boarding pass.

Perhaps someone has a problem with their hand luggage.

These things may sound small.

But small things can add up.

Boarding that should take approximately 15 minutes could take 18 minutes.

Those extra three minutes are already a delay.

You might think:

“It is only three minutes.”

And you would be right.

But aviation is built around a schedule.

Those three minutes have to go somewhere.

Now imagine the aircraft is finally boarded and the door is closed.

You might think:

“Finally, we are leaving.”

Not necessarily.

The aircraft still needs clearance to take off.

The pilots contact Air Traffic Control.

But there are already four other aircraft waiting for takeoff clearance.

Hans Airways flight 4536 has to wait.

Five minutes pass.

Then ten minutes.

Then fifteen.

That is another delay.

And this is something passengers may not always see.

You are sitting comfortably inside the aircraft wondering why the aircraft has not moved.

Meanwhile, the pilots are waiting for clearance.

The cabin crew may also be waiting for the next instruction.

Eventually, clearance is received.

The aircraft takes off.

You arrive in Owerri.

At this point, you might think the delay is over.

But aviation has another way of surprising you.

Then the Weather Changes

Imagine the aircraft lands safely in Owerri.

The next scheduled route is ready.

The passengers are waiting.

The crew are preparing.

But suddenly, the weather changes.

The pilots may now have to wait before the aircraft can safely depart.

It could be 15 minutes.

It could be 25 minutes.

It could be an hour.

That is another delay.

And remember, the aircraft is not operating only this one route for the entire day.

It has other destinations to operate.

So now we have a delay that started with boarding.

Then another delay caused by waiting for Air Traffic Control clearance.

Then another delay caused by weather.

And the aircraft is still only on its first or second sector of the day.

This Is How Delays Start Creeping Into the Operation

This is the part passengers often do not see.

A delay does not always arrive as one big event.

Sometimes it happens in small pieces.

Three minutes here.

Ten minutes there.

Twenty minutes somewhere else.

Before you realise it, an aircraft that was supposed to depart at 8:00 am may now be significantly behind schedule.

And because that aircraft has other flights to operate, the delay can begin affecting those flights too.

The 8:00 am flight becomes late.

The next flight becomes late.

Then the following flight becomes late.

Suddenly, passengers on a completely different route are asking:

“Why is our flight delayed?”

And the answer may have started several hours earlier with an aircraft operating on another route.

But What About the Pilots and Cabin Crew?

This is another important part of the story.

Pilots and cabin crew cannot simply continue working indefinitely because an aircraft is delayed.

There are regulations governing flight and duty time and rest requirements.

If a delay becomes significant enough, it can affect whether the crew can legally continue operating.

For example, imagine the crew were scheduled to operate several sectors during the day.

The first sector is delayed.

The second sector is delayed.

The third sector is delayed.

Eventually, the accumulated delay can affect the crew’s duty period.

At that point, the airline may have to look at other options.

That could mean finding another crew, changing the schedule or making other operational arrangements.

And all of this can cost the airline money.

So Why Would an Airline Intentionally Delay Its Own Flight?

Think about it from a business perspective.

An airline has paid for the aircraft.

It has pilots and cabin crew.

It has ground staff.

It has fuel costs.

It has airport charges.

It has passengers expecting to travel.

It has another flight waiting for that aircraft.

Why would the airline deliberately delay the aircraft without a reason?

It doesn’t make business sense.

Of course, airlines can make operational decisions that result in a flight being delayed.

There may be situations where the airline decides that delaying a flight is preferable to another operational problem for example an unscheduled maintainance of the aircraft.

But that is very different from deliberately delaying a flight simply because the airline wants passengers to wait.

What Passengers See Versus What Crew See

This is where the cabin crew perspective becomes important.

A passenger may see an aircraft sitting on the ground and think:

“They are wasting our time.”

The crew may be thinking:

“We are already behind schedule. How are we going to operate the remaining sectors?”

The passenger sees a 20 minute delay.

The airline may be looking at the potential effect of that 20 minute delay on the next four flights.

That is the difference.

One delay can become a chain reaction.

And sometimes, by the time passengers on the final flight of the day are experiencing a delay, the original cause may have happened many hours earlier.

And Yes, Cabin Crew Get Frustrated Too

I want passengers to understand something.

Cabin crew are not happy when a flight is delayed.

We want to get to our destination too.

We have schedules.

We have families.

We have plans.

We have duty limitations.

And nobody wants to sit inside an aircraft for hours waiting for an operational issue to be resolved.

But our job is to remain professional and take care of the passengers while the operation is being sorted out.

So when you see a cabin crew member during a delay, remember that they may be just as eager to get the aircraft moving as you are.

Sometimes We Don’t Have the Answer You Want

One of the most difficult things during a delay is when passengers repeatedly ask:

“What is happening?”

Sometimes we know.

Sometimes we are waiting for information.

And sometimes the information we have is simply that there is a delay.

We cannot give passengers a definite departure time when one has not been confirmed.

If we tell you the aircraft will leave in 20 minutes and that information changes, you will understandably become even more frustrated.

So sometimes saying “We are waiting for further information” is not an attempt to avoid answering the question.

It may genuinely be the most accurate answer we have at that moment.

So, Do Airlines Intentionally Delay Flights?

Now that you understand how easily delays can develop, you can see why the answer is not as simple as yes or no.

An airline can certainly be responsible for some delays.

Operational problems happen.

Technical issues happen.

Crew issues happen.

Ground handling problems happen.

But there are also delays caused by weather, Air Traffic Control, airport congestion and other factors outside the airline’s direct control.

And sometimes several of these things happen together.

From the passenger’s perspective, it is simply:

“My flight is delayed.”

From the airline’s perspective, it can be:

“How do we recover this operation without creating an even bigger problem?”

That is a very different perspective.

The Next Time Your Flight Is Delayed

I am not going to tell you not to be frustrated.

You have every right to be disappointed when your travel plans are disrupted.

But the next time you hear that dreaded announcement saying your flight has been delayed, remember that the delay may be part of a much bigger operational story.

The aircraft may have arrived late.

The previous flight may have encountered a problem.

The airport may be congested.

The pilots may be waiting for Air Traffic Control clearance.

The weather may have changed.

The crew may be approaching their duty limitations.

Or several things may have happened one after another.

What looks like one simple delay to a passenger can actually be a chain of events affecting an entire day’s operation.

And that is something you only really understand when you see aviation from the inside.

A Final Boarding Call

So, do airlines intentionally delay flights?

From my experience as cabin crew, I would say that airlines generally do not want unnecessary delays.

A delay affects more than the passengers sitting inside that particular aircraft.

It can affect the aircraft’s next destination, the crew’s duty time, the passengers waiting for the next flight and the airline’s overall operation.

The next time you are sitting at the gate or inside an aircraft waiting to depart, remember this:

A flight delay is rarely just about the flight you are sitting on.

Sometimes, it is the result of a chain reaction that started hours earlier.

And while you may be watching the clock from your seat, there are people behind the scenes trying to get the operation moving again.

As cabin crew, we want to get there too.

Continue Reading……

Want to understand more about what happens behind the scenes in aviation? Read my article, What Do Flight Attendants Really Do? The Job Is More Than Serving Food