[Scott Carson]

This is the second time this has happened in two months --

9am flight to Chicago was cancelled because of "weather"
7:30 flight -- no delays
10:10 flight -- no delays
Other airlines -- no delays

It seems pretty clear to me that the flight was not full. They simply rebooked the passengers on other flights. I got rebooked for the 1:20 with my girlfriend -- and we are in different rows. Last time, they rebooked me for the following day -- even though I already had a flight back from Chicago that day!

I would give them the benefit of the doubt if this had only happened once.. but it happened TWICE, and no other flights were effected.

I was a loyal Continental customer, but no longer. They have ruined two different trips for me in two months. One customer rep said the weather was bad in Newark (then why were no other flights effected?), another said it was in Chicago (why no others effected?).

Finally, as my girlfriend said: if it was because of weather, why not just DELAY the flight?

[Silent Bob]

Finally, as my girlfriend said: if it was because of weather, why not just DELAY the flight?

Because newark is horrenous when weather hits, because air traffic gets all screwed up. Newark, La Guardia, JFK all the same. If and when weather hits you can usually expect to either be delayed or your flight will be cancelled. If you were flying out yesterday (sep 10) or today (sep 11) then from a guy who's in the area can tell ya, the weather was/is bad. (Yesterday high winds, some rain. Today high winds and rain). Also making an assumption about why the flight was cancelled (not a fully booked plane) is simply an assumption and will just compound your fustration. Unless you and your girlfriend were the only ones booked on that flight, you can be assured that plane was gonna go. Most people have internet phones or carry laptops; you can just go to weather.com and check the weather in new jersey (specifically newark) as well as the east coast and the chicago area. Also you can visits such sights as flightstats.com for more info as to why your flight was cancelled or delay. Lastly don't think if you can jump off Continental to another airline that it will help, United gets afflicted with the same delays and cancellations as well, and I fly to ORD and back on them to know. But you can go between the two as they both do a decent job.

[Scott Carson]

If the weather was so horrendous, why did the 7:30 flight and the 10:10 flight go as scheduled, like clockwork? And why did the same thing happen 2 months ago -- exactly the same flight, exactly the same circumstances -- no other flight affected?

I checked my flight status at 6am before coming to the airport. The flight itself was cancelled at 7:08am, 5 minutes before I got to the airport. The excuse that "weather is horrible at Newark" doesn't cut it. All other flights are listed as "on time" -- including the others to Chicago.

I am going to write to Continental, and if they don't "make it right" somehow, I'll air this complaint to the 36,000 people who are on my email list. Those people will read the facts and make their own judgment without having an "airline sympathizer" give the standard "Newark is a horrible airport" excuse.

[Silent Bob]

Why those flights other flights went out on time, I don't know. It could be the size of the aircraft, usually the smaller planes get cancelled and the bigger ones get delayed. Again i don't know. I'm just givin you answers from a guy who is in the area: weather in newark is atrocious. All you need to do to confirm this is check the weather in the NJ/NY area, simple as that.

As for making it right, what exactly are you looking for? (I hope its a long list, post it here please) when it comes to weather they won't give you anything. You might get a travel voucher, but I don't think you will get much else. You're threats will be useless to them.

You obviously have internet access, go to weather.com check the weather for newark, and see for yourself.

[Scott Carson]

Sideshow Bob -- I LIVE here. I DROVE to the airport. It is raining. Yes. Atrocious. So atrocious that every other flight to Chicago went off exactly on time.

Is this site owned by the airlines? Why does every complaint have a response from a "sympathizer?" I hope you get good money for what you do...

[mars6423]

well scott, he does have a good point with type of aircraft being used

and yeah i live very close to Newark airport, and the weather throws alot of flights off, and i fly out of EWR alot, mainly international but those are on european airlines or singapore airlines, but i do notice that when the weather is bad that many flights are effected, and sometimes its the same thing from where the plane your suposed to be on is coming from if there was bad weather there or not.....in your case chicago, which is pretty well known to have delays due to the weather up there

i dont see exactly what you want them to do? give you a refund? or what?

no this site isn't owned by the airlines, and the moderator thinks that if you write a few posts on the airlines side even when it is clear that it is the persons fault they stick the label on, and than people just assume that your an airline sympathisor if you are or not

[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by Scott Carson

Sideshow Bob -- I LIVE here. I DROVE to the airport. It is raining. Yes. Atrocious. So atrocious that every other flight to Chicago went off exactly on time.

Is this site owned by the airlines? Why does every complaint have a response from a "sympathizer?" I hope you get good money for what you do...

Calling someone names does nothing for your credibility.

Please post the dates and flight numbers. I'd like to verify that whatyou say is true.

[justme]

Originally Posted by Scott Carson

If the weather was so horrendous, why did the 7:30 flight and the 10:10 flight go as scheduled, like clockwork? And why did the same thing happen 2 months ago -- exactly the same flight, exactly the same circumstances -- no other flight affected?

A POSSIBLE reason that happened is because the weather was not so bad that airplanes could not fly in it, but it was bad enuf that the FAA needed to thin out the arrivals and departures. You probably already know this, but in case you don't, I'll explain what happens. When bad weather hits, sometimes even just rain, visibility drops. When visibility drops, the airplanes cannot land as close to each other as when it's clear. On a clear day, you can land about 2 airplanes a minute. With bad visibility, that rate drops to 1 airplane a minute or less. So, the case may have been that the FAA told CO, UA, DL, AA, etc, that they had to choose 2 out of every 5 flights to cancel to thin out the load... they happened to choose your flight, twice. I think the idea that it was selected because it is a smaller airplane is probably on the right track, but it could have been that your arrival time in EWR was a particularly busy time and they were forced to cancel more flights during that time period. I'm with PHX when he says we would like the flight numbers and times. Those would probably explain A LOT!

[jimworcs]

On the other hand, they could just be LYING. It is, after all, second nature to airline employees

[Silent Bob]

I don't believe an airline agent can lie about something that can be verified just by looking out a window or stepping outside. Even the OP admits it was raining (and we're gettin some rain today I see). His main argument, and he's taking it too personal, is that it happened to him twice. Here comes the shocker Scott, you might wanna sit down for this... but it's gonna happen again. I know, I know it might not have happened on any other airline, or maybe these are the only two times you've ever flown, I dunno, but it will happen again. Just be ready for it and have that list of 36,000 handy so you can show it to the airlines and they can "make it right". (I and I am sure others would like to know what would make it right).

And the Sideshow bob isn't even an insult because 1) I love the simpson's and I'm a HUGE Sideshow Bob fan and 2) Kelsey Grammar does the voice which really brings the character to life. But of all the S'words you could have chosen to preceed Bob why Sideshow? Why not Silly Bob? Stupid Bob? Slappy Bob? Snakey Bob could work too.

[jimworcs]

how about Sympathizer Bob...?

[Silent Bob]

Jim, I was gonna do that but it was too obvious lol

*Silent Bob is having a cocktail*

[wkharris2001]

when an early morning flight is canceled due to weather, it's not necessarily because of weather that particular day. the inbound aircraft may have been cancelled the previous evening and is not available where it is needed the following morning. with ewr being a continental hub that may not have been the case, but it's always possible, airlines don't always, but do sometimes have spare aircraft available and it's possible they could have just swapped it out. but it appears as though they didn't have an aircraft of the same type handy in ewr the day of your flight. airlines don't cancel flights due to volume or lack of passengers on a flight. I sent a flight out with 10 passengers on it the other day, so in all reality CO probably cancelled the inbound flight the day before and the aircraft wasn't available for the first flight out that's probably why all the other flights went out fine that day without any problems. I don't work in CO's operation control center so I don't know what happened exactly, neither do you, and neither does anyone else on this forum, all we can do is speculate and give advice and tips based on our experience as to what we think may have happened.

[jimworcs]

It is absolutely right that we have no way of knowing the true reason, but the reasons that this issue arises so often is that airline employees routinely lie to the customers. Often this is just to get them away from the desk, but it can also be to avoid providing compensation. The consequence of this approach has now led to a high degree of cynicism as to anything a customer is told by an employee, especially if it is to the detriment of the customer. This is the fault of the airlines and the employees, who by engaging in this deceit have created a rod for their own back. It ill behoves such a lying bunch of cretins to now complain that no-one believes them even when they are telling the truth!!

[The_Judge]

The part about canceling due to pax volume I'll agree with. Contrary to popular belief, in my 20+ years of working for a major airline, I never saw this happen. I've sent out flights with no people on them before, 1 person, 2 people. The aircraft has other work to do so it must be positioned not to mention crews. They need to be in certain places at certain times to be available for their next flight. Not to mention any freight or mail that maybe booked for the flight.