[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by Jim

Your efforts ARE appreciated and I apologize if my tone seemed too harsh. Both you and abutterfinger25 seem to be defending what I believe is the problem. So I guess my initial reaction was defensive.

Apology accepted. I think from our perspectives as a frequent traveler (me) and one who reads many complaints sent to the DOT (Mr. Butterfinger) we're not defending the problem but trying to make sense of the situation. It seems that the EWR-YHZ route on CO is, if you'll pardon a pun, a perfect storm of weather, ATC and aircraft issues. I haven't mentioned the latter until now but CO only operates Embraer 145 regional jets on this route. Now I'm not a pilot nor am I one of those aviation geeks that memorizes stats on every aircraft but I do know that different aircraft have different operational minimums. Additionally when cancellations need to be made to thin out the number of aircraft arriving at or departing from Newark the flights operated on RJs are almost always the first to get the axe. They use the same runway and airspace as the mainline jets yet carry a fraction of the passengers. Unfortunately it becomes a numbers game.

I just checked FlightStats.com for those flights today. The first flight this morning was canceled due to weather (fog) in Halifax and the last two flights of the day are uber-delayed because of weather (t-storms) and ATC ground stops in Newark. There's probably a good chance that one or maybe both of those flights will be canceled before the night is over.

Originally Posted by Jim

I continue to try to use this flight because Newark is by far the more convenient airport for me and the route (when it works) is by far the quickest and most direct. All others, so far as I know, involve plane changes, considerably indirect routing and other inconveniences.

It's only the shortest and most convenient flight IF it operates on-time. What, in your experience, is that percentage? More than 50%? Less? At what point is the non-stop no longer convenient because of the inconvenience? I think what we were both trying to do is get you to really take a hard look at the situation. There's nothing you can do about the weather or the cluster-bleep that is Newark Airport. Quite honestly the on-time performance and cancellation rate is what it is and no flood of letters or phone calls to Continental is going to change that. If you can tolerate the occasional delay or cancellation then stick with CO out of EWR. If the situation has reached your tolerance level then it may be time to look at alternatives.

For example I just booked my Thanksgiving travel. My family lives in Northern NJ about equidistant from Newark and Stewart in Newburgh. The day before Thanksgiving I'll be flying into Newark and if it's not convenient for someone to pick me up I can jump on NJ Transit and take a train to a station not far from my parent's home. The Sunday after I'm flying out of SWF so we can avoid the traffic into Newark and the mob scene at Newark. It's a great little airport and even when it's busy you can drive right up to the terminal and be through security in about 10 minutes even on the busiest day of the year. The only drawback is that I'll be flying US Airways and connecting through Philadelphia. But that's still better than dealing with the throngs at EWR.

Originally Posted by Jim

My main points are two: Continental ought to service the route more reliably and they seem expert at finding the thinnest possible to 'play the weather card' to moderate their responsibility to passengers. This is not a conclusion arrived at based only on this experience. The situation has been long standing. Furthermore, it's not only when I'm flying that I get stung. I have many times had to wait hours for one of these flights to arrive when I've had to meet someone coming in whose travel arrangements are outside my control.

What was your second point? I really only see one here, but who's counting?

Originally Posted by Jim

BTW: I don't really care if abutterfinger is with the DOT or not. For all I know he could be the janitor there.
How did you get pegged with the "Airline Sympathizer" tag, anyway?

Actually he's the executive maintenance specialist but they let him open the mail when things get backed up! As for the tag, there's currently a thread running in "General Discussion" which I will not get involved in for fear of retribution from the moderator of this website but you are certainly welcome to read up and get informed on how some contributors are treated here.