[Jim]

I can not believe how unreliable Continental's performance is on this route. I've lost count of how many times I've been inconvenienced either as a passenger or when waiting to meet someone; how many times the Continental flight from Newark can't land in Halifax in marginal weather when EVERY OTHER airline and aircraft seems to come in as scheduled and without problem.

The latest insult is the cancellation - 12 hours ahead of time - of flight CO2966 on 02JUL09 supposedly due to weather. Continental must have some hyper-sophisticated forecasting technology! Or perhaps a crystal ball. If it's a matter of aircraft out of position, that seems lame, too. With that much lead time they can't find an alternative? They manage to get a pretty broad stroke with their 'act of god' brush! They thereby gain license to leave customers stranded without recourse.

As if all this weren't bad (read 'unbelievable') enough the best they can do is a rebooking on the last of four flights on 03JUL09 - thirty-six hours later than my carefully engineered arrival. Needless to say, all plans and arrangements have been completely disrupted if not ruined.

It's simply unacceptable and certainly extremely annoying. The route should be given to a better carrier IMHO!

[PHXFlyer]

Actually, Continental does have, in your words, "hyper-sophisticated forecasting technology." I've visited their weather center myself and it's pretty amazing. I'm not a meteorologist, but I just pulled up weather conditions @ the Halifax airport:

55 °F
Overcast
Humidity: 100% Dew Point: 55 °F Visibility: 1.5 miles
Clouds: Overcast 300 ft
Elevation: 476 ft

Whenever the air temperature and dew point are equal and humidity is 100% you can bet there is fog. If you've flown into or out of Halifax you should know this is a frequent problem there.

As far as choices, Air Canada has service from Newark to Halifax with a connection in either Toronto or Montreal. There are also multiple options out of LaGuardia, JFK, Islip, Newburgh, Westchester and even Philadelphia and New Haven. It sucks that you couldn't get a confirmed seat until the 3rd but when weather disruptions occur that is often the case. You realize you could go to Newark anytime Thursday or Friday to try to stand-by for an open seat. Often people with confirmed seats are no-shows and since you've been displaced because of weather you can stand-by for free.

[Jim]

Thanks for your thoughts, PHXFlyer. But you sound precisely like an "Airline Apologist/Sympathizer" despite your disclaimer! A look at the YHZ Arrivals and Departure boards this morning at 0900 ADT each show one and only one cancelled flight - Continental (http://www.hiaa.ca/schedules/arrivals_ns.html). How come everyone else can fly?? Their excuse of weather just doesn't hold up!!

As for the alternatives, isn't that something Continental should have offered some help getting sorted out? When you're already looking at having to leave the house at 0430 for check-in and you get a cancellation email at 2030 the previous evening it doesn't leave much time for maneuvering ... especially when you have to spend over an hour on the phone trying to talk with a human at Continental to begin with!

The stand-by option is hardly viable and assumes you've got nothing else to do but spend the entire day sitting around the airport. Your chances of success are pretty well diminished when there is an entire planeload of displaced souls trying to do the same thing. Even if you were able to get a seat chances are slim that your check luggage would make it on too. That was the warning from Continental.

I reiterate that I have seen this kind of thing happen time and again on this route. In short, their performance is unsatisfactory and their Customer Service is worse.

[abutterfinger25]

The Main problem here is probably not with Halifax but with Newark. Newark Airport operates 2 primary parallel runways plus 1 shorter cross runway. A strong wind crossing those runways could impede aircraft operations while other NY airports are able to conduct operations. It is an inherent flaw in the airport's layout which has no easy fix and is the main reason why Newark is normally the most chronically delayed airport in the US.

My advice to you would be to avoid Newark at all costs and fly into or out of one of the other airports that PHX listed.

[Jim]

Points taken on EWR. But the current Wx includes winds 050 @ 8MPH. The main runways are 040/220. So what's the problem? Moreover there are six Continental flights to YHZ between what I was booked on and what they re-booked me on. There is no apparent attempt to find something more timely on Continental's part. There isn't even a 'take it or leave it' option as I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have a chance of getting a refund now that the purpose of my trip has now been missed.

[abutterfinger25]

There might not have been available seats on those other CO flights and the one they booked you one was the first available.

In regards to the refund.... If CO cancelled the flight and you do not accept the reaccomodated flight, you are entitled to a refund of your fare, even if it was a non-refundable ticket.

[Jim]

Thanks for your thoughts, abutterfinter25. Interesting snippet of info on the ticket refund. I wasn't aware of that bit of fine print.

I assume that what you suggest was the case on available seats. The route is heavily traveled and I suspect that they had to rebook an entire plane full of passengers. That's why I would have hoped (he said foolishly) that Continental might have been a little more aggressive in finding more timely alternatives for it's customers.

[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by Jim

Thanks for your thoughts, PHXFlyer. But you sound precisely like an "Airline Apologist/Sympathizer" despite your disclaimer! A look at the YHZ Arrivals and Departure boards this morning at 0900 ADT each show one and only one cancelled flight - Continental (http://www.hiaa.ca/schedules/arrivals_ns.html). How come everyone else can fly?? Their excuse of weather just doesn't hold up!!

This is why these "labels" have to go. I sympathized with your situation,

Originally Posted by PHXFlyer

It sucks that you couldn't get a confirmed seat until the 3rd

suggested alternatives, yet you throw that back in my face and take all of Mr. Butterfinger's suggestions with nothing but praise and thanks because he's with the DOT. Thanks a bunch.

Originally Posted by Jim

As for the alternatives, isn't that something Continental should have offered some help getting sorted out? When you're already looking at having to leave the house at 0430 for check-in and you get a cancellation email at 2030 the previous evening it doesn't leave much time for maneuvering ... especially when you have to spend over an hour on the phone trying to talk with a human at Continental to begin with!

When a cancellation is weather related they are only obligated to re-book you on the next available flight on Continental. Had it been a mechanical issue then you could have been re-booked on another airline if space was available. I checked Continental's flights and indeed they were all booked up until Friday evening. Hence my suggestion that if you really needed to be there to try standby. You're welcome.

As for the comment about when the flight was canceled, wouldn't you rather hear about it soonere than later? I've had a few cancellation notices on my way to the airport or only after the flight was on a rolling delay for a few hours. At least you had time to make alternate arrangements.

Originally Posted by Jim

I reiterate that I have seen this kind of thing happen time and again on this route. In short, their performance is unsatisfactory and their Customer Service is worse.

Then why do you continue to fly Continental on this route? If you already know that historically it's a route that is delayed/canceled often yet you continue to book it then you already know what to expect.

Originally Posted by abutterfinger25

There might not have been available seats on those other CO flights and the one they booked you one was the first available.

As I said before, I checked online and indeed this was the case. My efforts were unappreciated, though.

[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.

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. 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.

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?

[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.

[abutterfinger25]

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.

Darn. I have been outed

PHXFlyer - regardless of your "label", your suggestions are valid and you are a credit to the usefullness of this site, at least in my opinion.