Flight delays are a fact of travel life, and you need to know how to deal with them effectively. Reasons for flight delays vary, but most commonly they're caused by:

• Bad weather that prevents aircraft from landing or departing.
• Mechanical problems with an aircraft.
• Airlines over-scheduling departures.
  An airport's air traffic control system can only handle a limited number of departures within a given time period, and large airports are being pushed to their limits by the ever increasing demand for more flights.
• A delayed flight crew.
  Flight crews are often assigned to more than one flight per day.
• Airport closures due to bad weather or other circumstances.

How You Can Avoid or Deal with Flight Delays

Pick the Right Flight

• Try to depart on an airline's first flight of the day out of a particular airport. There's an excellent chance that the aircraft will have been sitting at the airport overnight and be ready to leave on time.
• If possible avoid departing and/or connecting at airports that are known for bad weather.
• Try to depart from smaller, alternate airports with less traffic (e.g., Providence instead of Boston Logan).
• Major airlines are increasing the number of reserve aircraft at hub airports, so you may be able to minimize your chance of delays by departing and returning at airports such as Atlanta, Chicago or Denver. The trade off is that these airports tend to be more congested.
• Some online booking sites allow you to review the on-time performance of a flight.
• Try to book on an airline that offers several flights each day to and from your destination. More flights gives you more options.
• Try to use airlines that offer what is known as inter-airline agreements. These agreements allow you to transfer your ticket between carriers. (Southwest does not participate in these agreements, but American, Delta, United, and other major carriers do).
• Try to arrange your flight plans so that you can arrive at a connecting airport at least two hours early. If your flight is delayed, the delay won't present as much of a disruption to your plans.

Evaluate the Situation Early

• When you first get to the airport, go to your gate and look out the window to see if your flight has arrived yet. For an on-time departure, your aircraft should be at the gate at least 20 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time.
• If your flight hasn't shown up within 20 minutes of departure, you should assume you'll be delayed (regardless of what the airline is telling you). Your task should then be to figure out if your flight is dependent on an inbound aircraft. One trick is to look at the Arrival monitor. Use it to check your gate number for any arriving flights coming in within one or two hours before your scheduled departure time. If the monitor shows the incoming flight is on time, you may still want to double check its accuracy by using a Web-based flight tracker, if you have access to one at the airport (such as on your cell phone). The advantage of using a flight tracker is that you can tell if an aircraft has even left its departure airport yet.

  Armed with the above information you can now make the decision as to whether you should ask your airline to book you on another flight, either on the same or a different airline. If your airline's ticket agent tells you that no other flights are currently available to your destination on any airline, double check that claim for yourself. The easiest way to do this is via the airline's toll-free reservations number.

Track Your Flight

• Flight arrivals can be accurately tracked as long as you have the name of the airline and either the flight number or arrival time.
• Flight numbers are usually assigned to each departure/arrival segment of an aircraft's daily travel, so to track all segments of a flight with an online flight tracker, and to see if a flight is going to be delayed, you need to know the flight number of each segment. You can get this information from your airline.

Find Out What the Airline Will Do For You

• If your flight is late and you miss a connection, don't stand in line at the ticket counter or the gate. Call the airline's toll-free reservations number as soon as possible. If your original seating assignment isn't available on the next connecting flight, there's a good chance you'll be able to obtain a better seat on a new flight.
• Instead of relying on automated flight arrival/departure sources, call your airline's toll-free reservations number and speak to a live representative. Be friendly, relaxed and polite. Ask them if they can verify that your flight is still on time. Specifically ask if your flight is dependent on the arrival of another inbound flight. An airline's reservations center is provided with similar information to what's on the automated notification systems, but a good airline representative will pick up on certain red flags. These may lead the representative to phone the operations center and/or the departure airport for more information, so let them know it's O.K. to leave you on hold while they do some research.
• If you feel that the gate agent assigned to your flight is uncooperative, and if you have the time, look for another agent at another gate (preferably one with a short line to service and a smile on their face). Politely ask them what their take on the situation is and if they know of any alternate flights they could book you on. Remember, calmness, politeness, and courtesy will make you stand out from the crowd in a good way.
• Some airlines, if they admit they were responsible for a flight delay, may provide you with a free movie in coach class and/or free alcoholic beverages. The captain of the aircraft may also approve this. For longer delays, ask your airline about free meal coupons and overnight hotel stays.

Keep Your Luggage With You

Only carry luggage that can fit through the luggage template at the security checkpoint. If you suspect your flight will be delayed, take your size-wise luggage to the gate with you. If your flight turns out not to be delayed, the airline can check your luggage directly onto your aircraft from the gate. Otherwise, you and your luggage can move on to another flight or airline without having to worry about your luggage becoming displaced

The Role the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) Plays in Handling and Reporting Flight Delays

• The FAA only tracks general airport delays from gate to gate. In other words, it only tracks the delays that happen to an aircraft once it pushes back from its departure gate through the time it touches the gate at the destination airport. Delays that happen while an aircraft is sitting at a gate are not the FAA's concern so they leave the gathering and dissemination of this type of delay information to the airlines.
• The FAA is responsible for establishing the number of departures each airport can handle within a given time period, but the FAA is not responsible for enforcing limits on the number of departures an airline can schedule.

The Role the Airlines Play in Handling and Reporting Flight Delays

Airlines may not always provide accurate delay information on airport monitors, airline web sites, and/or through their toll-free reservations number.

• Airlines may not always be financially motivated to provide delay information. For example, if a passenger chooses to book a flight on another airline because of a flight delay, that other airline may charge the original airline a higher price than the passenger paid for the original ticket.
• Each airline's flight operations department is in control of flight delay information. Gate agents or reservation agents can only report the information available on their somewhat isolated computer system.

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