YYC Airport delays update?

[spike98]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

That's why euro cheese is better.

Interestingly enough, so is euro air travel.

[ExtraSlow]

Sounds like causation to me.

[Tik-Tok]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Don't keep the update a secret like both I and The Penguin have described.

The update isn't a secret (as Maxx stated), however the airline can't reasonably predict a couple of other factors that play into it. They can't predict the amount of aircraft that need de-icing ahead of them, the amount of time it takes to de-ice each aircraft ahead of them, and the biggest factor, the amount of de-ice employee's who actually show up to a shift.

[ThePenIsMightier]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

As I understand it, you aren’t arguing that the departure time should be moved up to account for things like deicing, correct?

You are wanting the arrival time to be revised so that your sisters ride didn’t need to wait the extra 15 minutes at the pickup airport, correct?

That is already the case, which is why I’m confused as to what you’re asking for. The arrival time is based on the wheels up time, plus the planned flight time. The time when the flight pushes back from the gate is the scheduled departure time. The difference between these two can be as much as 30-60 minutes, depending on the reason for the delay. In winter operations, there is a set time built in, depending on departure station, for this exact reason. If, for some reason, things take longer, the new arrival time is updated electronically as soon as the aircraft is airborne. It knows the flight planned air time for that exact day, taking into account winds, etc. and will update the respective app accordingly. Arrivals within +15 and -5 minutes are considered by IATA to be “on time” and the flight will show as such, however using any of the airlines apps will still show the exact arrival time, down to the minute.

For example, let’s say a flight departs YYC at 13:00, to arrive in the same time zone at 15:30. It could very well only have a 90 minute air time. It could be accounting for 45 minutes in YYC for deice, and another 15 on the arrival end for taxi if it’s a large station. If the flight pushes on time at 13:00, but deicing takes a full hour because YYC sucks balls, the arrival time won’t be updated until the aircraft actually takes off at 14:00, and will then show a 15:45 arrival.

Make sense?

Thanks for clarifying. I have never seen any time built in for de-icing or any other known delays that would be experienced. It's comforting to know that it's supposed to be in there, but I can honestly say, I've never seen it. I'm no stranger to flying, but a long way from those who max out all their tiers on multiple airlines, so I'm not the definitive authority.

Every fight I've been on reports the same duration between the places every time. Winter, summer, blizzard, pestilence, fog, famine - it doesn't matter. Maybe WestJet extra sucks at this.

The other thing that is related to inaccurate schedule times is when the plane that I'm getting on is doing a back & forth (whatever the cool industry term is) and they don't update for known delays.
Example: there's a flight from YVR to YYC that's scheduled to arrive at (let's say) 13:20. It is supposed to unload, they spray Febreeze and load everyone on to return back to YVR. I'm booked to get on that flight from YYC to YVR at 14:00. The plane could be an hour late leaving YVR and they know they ain't making up that time, but that delay won't be conveyed right away, or at all.

[Maxx Mazda]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Thanks for clarifying. I have never seen any time built in for de-icing or any other known delays that would be experienced. It's comforting to know that it's supposed to be in there, but I can honestly say, I've never seen it. I'm no stranger to flying, but a long way from those who max out all their tiers on multiple airlines, so I'm not the definitive authority.

Every fight I've been on reports the same duration between the places every time. Winter, summer, blizzard, pestilence, fog, famine - it doesn't matter. Maybe WestJet extra sucks at this.

The other thing that is related to inaccurate schedule times is when the plane that I'm getting on is doing a back & forth (whatever the cool industry term is) and they don't update for known delays.
Example: there's a flight from YVR to YYC that's scheduled to arrive at (let's say) 13:20. It is supposed to unload, they spray Febreeze and load everyone on to return back to YVR. I'm booked to get on that flight from YYC to YVR at 14:00. The plane could be an hour late leaving YVR and they know they ain't making up that time, but that delay won't be conveyed right away, or at all.

Because, Your outbound leg may not stay on that inbound aircraft. Especially at hub cities, aircraft swaps are common. The problem with delaying a flight, is they now have to delay bag drop, check in, everything else to compensate. Better to get everyone through security and to the gate, especially if the delay isn’t that long. Each aircraft type has minimum turn times, usually around 35 minutes for a narrow body. If either leg has a light load, this can be sped up even more. Additionally, boarding times are generally 45 mins prior to departure. It often takes less than that, so there’s more time to be made up.

[SkiBum5.0]

Flew to and from IAH and Frankfurt without too much delay, only problem was landing in Edm instead of YYC so they could clear the runway in Calgary. Overall, 9.5/10. Bonus was that the AC gals were extra perky - got the champagne out in Edm. Best part was all the Euro’s taking their luggage down in Edm and waiting in the aisle’s.

[ThePenIsMightier]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Because, Your outbound leg may not stay on that inbound aircraft. Especially at hub cities, aircraft swaps are common. The problem with delaying a flight, is they now have to delay bag drop, check in, everything else to compensate. Better to get everyone through security and to the gate, especially if the delay isn’t that long. Each aircraft type has minimum turn times, usually around 35 minutes for a narrow body. If either leg has a light load, this can be sped up even more. Additionally, boarding times are generally 45 mins prior to departure. It often takes less than that, so there’s more time to be made up.

I'm sure it's true that they may switch the aircraft, the thing is, I'm talking past tense and my examples are all the same aircraft.
I can see it leave late as Hell from Kelowna, Vancouver, Victoria or Charlottetown and there's no update. Get to airport super unnecessarily early and watch it arrive late as Hell. Then certifiably get on their same plane for it to turn around and fly straight back to Kelowna, Vancouver, Victoria or Charlottetown.
Obviously the impact isn't usually significant on those shorter routes because apparently we need to be at the airport like "3 hours" before a domestic flight nowadays, (LoL!) but I've been able to watch (online) the plane leave Calgary 2.75 hours late and then sleep in a shit ton before going to that horrible YYG and the fuckers haven't updated shit. The airport is full of angry people dying in humidity listening to fish-wives yelling at their obese children and I stroll in knowing the plane is barely in Quebec.


Maybe this is a WestJet issue? Or an airport issue and nothing to do with the carrier?

[ExtraSlow]

TPIM issue sounds like

[The_Penguin]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

The time when the flight pushes back from the gate is the scheduled departure time.

This is an important tidbit that a lot of people don't realize. We were watching a family member's flight at Christmas. Status said "departed" and everyone was happy it was "on time"
Well watching ADSB it was 1 hour later that it actually took off, Most of that was waiting in line for de-icing.