Flight delay and cancellation phobia

One of the biggest bummers of a well laid out vacation plan would be a notification from the airline company that your flight has been moved to a new hour and date. Mine had been reset to an ungodly pre-dawn hour, which meant going to the airport in the middle of the night and having to lose a paid day at the hotel, not to mention the day’s sleep.

While my predicament does not approximate many other far more disconcerting and infuriating stories that have come to fore in recent months, such stress is something that really dampens the anticipation of a few days of vacation travel that had been put on hold during the pandemic.

As our airline companies have repeatedly said, even if they had prepared for the expected revenge travel as soon as flights were allowed back, some things were just out of their control. Take for example the problem with Pratt & Whitney (PW) engines that are used on some Airbus A330 and Boeing 777 aircraft.

Cebu Pacific explains that their affected planes now need 220 days of engine restoration compared to just 90 days, and thus had to be grounded for an unexpected longer time leading to their “premature removal from service.”

The PW problem arose in early 2021 when a United Airlines flight experienced an engine failure shortly after takeoff from Denver International Airport and when debris from the engine fell onto residential areas, prompting concerns about the safety of the engines.

In response to this incident and subsequent investigations, several aviation authorities issued directives to ground certain PW-powered aircraft for inspection and maintenance. This affected over 120 aircraft worldwide, airlines affected had to comply with the directives, leading to flight cancellations, rescheduling, and operational disruptions.

Contingency planning

The PW problem perhaps explains why, in a recent informal MoneySmart survey involving more than 1,700 Singaporean travelers, Cebu Pacific came in second in place for the most cancelled number of flights experienced, closely following Air India. In terms of delays, Cebu Pacific was third next to Air India and Air China.

A year ago, a survey released by RadarBox showed the top five airlines in Asia notorious for delays to be China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, IndiGo, Beijing Airlines, and VietJet Air. Cebu Pacific or any Philippine airline was not mentioned.

The timing of the above survey results obviously did not cover the May-June 2023 period when the abnormally high number of flight delays and cancellations by both Cebu Pacific (CebuPac) and Philippine Airlines (PAL) were reported. Since then, both airlines have been trying to manage their flight schedules to minimize passenger inconvenience.

The extraordinary circumstance and the corresponding actions by CebuPac and PAL should mollify those who worry about the possible problems they may encounter should they personally experience delays or cancellations.

Still, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared. CebuPac and PAL have come up with a new statement covering changes in compensation for flight delays and cancellations. Factor these in when planning for your vacation. This way, surprises don’t sour your mood.

Prepare a contingency plan in case something goes wrong, like extremely foul weather that may not only affect flights out of the country and into another country. Other problems can also happen, and in the Philippines, our international airports often figure in them.

Airport problems

In last year’s RadarBox report, for example, Manila topped the list of airport delays in Asia Pacific with 29.55 percent of flights to or from Manila being delayed. Jakarta and Guangzhou come in second and third, but at a lower 16.3 percent and 15.34 percent frequency, respectively.

This is not surprising given the still unresolved issues that are related to high air traffic congestion brought on by the high volume of flights and limited capacity in airspace and runways in country’s existing international airports. Any hope for better days will likely happen only after 2027 when San Miguel Aerocity’s New Manila international airport in Bulacan is fully operational.

The surge in travel after our airports opened in early 2021 had to contend with a deterioration in ground handling services, such as baggage handling, refueling, and aircraft servicing, which also leads to delays in turning around aircraft for the next flight.

Other factors are related to security, safety, and a poor system of customs and immigration processing. This year, power outages, as well as bad air traffic management at some of our international airports also contributed to delays.

Monitoring weather

Weather disturbances have increasingly been noted to cause flight delays and cancellations, and in the world’s busiest airports, this can become nightmares for passengers caught in the midst of temporary airport closures. Not only should today’s air travelers be aware of an airline’s overall record for managing flights, but also the kind of weather conditions one can expect when leaving and arriving from one country to another.

Airlines have been beefing up their weather monitoring and forecasting system to stay informed about current and upcoming weather conditions. Many times, they make informed decisions to cancel flights if they feel that passenger safety is at risk because of adverse weather conditions.

Climate change and its associated effects, including more frequent and intense weather events, have been a topic of concern in the aviation industry. For example, more than 600 flights had been cancelled last June 28 after storms raked the northern parts of the US.

The problem has gotten so out of hand that US air travelers are now strongly advised to keep their eyes glued to weather reports three days before a planned trip. This way, one can avoid being “caught in the eye of the storm.”

Facebook and Twitter

We are actively using two social networking websites to reach out more often and even interact with and engage our readers, friends and colleagues in the various areas of interest that I tackle in my column. Please like us on www.facebook.com/ReyGamboa and follow us on www.twitter.com/ReyGamboa.

Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at [email protected]. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.