Why I find delays/cancellations threads tiresome

[markis10]

If you travel often enough you will realise that delays and cancellations are part of being a frequent flyer. What’s always left me feeling sad is the treatment staff get when such delays occur. It’s not the staff’s fault that you’re not getting to where you want to go when you want to go. So what is the positive outcome of posting such info here? IMHO all it does is add pressure to airline staff, in the unlikely event an aff’er is one of the poor folk who are affected they are already across what’s happening, which begs the question what’s the point of posting?

FWIW I suspect the publication of such threads has been one of the reasons airlines social teams have disengaged from AFF in the past, due to the negative nature and lack of relevance to the majority of travellers.

 

[AuSammy]

Postings and experiences of an airline’s aggregate figures over a period or specific routes that are always at risk can be helpful in trip planning - choosing a provider and estimating risks to unprotected connections. Individual delays here and there not much interest.

 

[RooFlyer]

If you travel often enough you will realise that delays and cancellations are part of being a frequent flyer. What’s always left me feeling sad is the treatment staff get when such delays occur. It’s not the staff’s fault that you’re not getting to where you want to go when you want to go. So what is the positive outcome of posting such info here? IMHO all it does is add pressure to airline staff, in the unlikely event an aff’er is one of the poor folk who are affected they are already across what’s happening, which begs the question what’s the point of posting?

FWIW I suspect the publication of such threads has been one of the reasons airlines social teams have disengaged from AFF in the past, due to the negative nature and lack of relevance to the majority of travellers.

Of course there’s no reason for you or anyone else to read such threads or read post by particular members. Simply don’t open the thread or block the poster and your tiredness will quickly go away.

I also think you’re conflating posting of delay information with reflections on staff. I don’t think airline staff read this and say oh my god I’ve gotta do better. This is bad - look what they are saying.

If they do, then the above would apply also.

But if management happened to read it, I think it’d be a good thing

 

[Melburnian1]

You may not find them of use, @markis10 , but others may, because it can give travellers (once there is a reasonable sample) information as to how punctual and reliable (latter = cancellations) an airline is.

For instance, UL is an airline that frequently runs late to and from Australia. Granted, recent occurrences may have been due to the Act of God cyclone, but the pattern was apparent before that tragic event.

You're drawing a long bow, @markis10 . The vast majority of the travelling public would not know about AFF. I daresay most AFFers are better mannered than some of the hoi polloi. Despite this, airline staff sometimes give no or poor explanation(s) as to why there's a delay or cancellation. They can also be passive-aggressive to passengers. even if the latter are well mannered when they ask a question as to why there's a delay.

You also in the one breath suggest 'delays and cancellations are part of being a frequent flyer...' then state 'in the unlikely event an affer is one of the poor folk who are affected...' Are you trying to say because a small minority of travellers read these pages, they are unlikely to ever experience a delay or cancellation even though they may frequently board an aircraft?' Makes no sense.

Every Affer had to start somewhere. As with all blogs, there's contantly people joining or leaving. There's also travellers who might browse once to find out something, but not return. So not every Affer may have expert-like knowledge.

Are you suggesting airlines ought be above criticism, or that passengers have no right to complain about cancellations or delays?

Terrible punctuality of the three major domestic airlines imposes a burden on travellers. For instance, often passengers travelling to funerals of loved ones don't have a lot of notice. Missing an event such as that thanks to an elderly aircraft breaking down and no seats being available for hours on another flight would be deeply upsetting to those affected.

Of course not all delays and cancellations are the airlines' fault, but many are. Especially domestically, high fares per km/nautical mile are often charged yet thanks to an appalling Federal Minister for Transport, Australia won't have an EU261-style compensation scheme.

Airlines routinely give free trips to travel and less frequently other journalists, so-called 'influencers', the more popular YouTube airline review creators and so on, resulting in wholly or mostly uncritical media articles, YouTube videos or FB/Instagram/TikToK 'happy snaps'. Recipients of freebies know that if their words or vision are too critical of an airline, they will be unlikely to score another freebie.

Airlines lobby politicians behind the scenes. IATA recently praised Australia's unwillingness to introduce an EU261-like scheme. Does Chairman's Lounge membership routinely granted to politicians create so-called 'soft corruption?'

As always, accessing a website, reading a blog or an individual thread is optional, so if you don't like these, don't view.

 

[kpc]

FWIW I suspect the publication of such threads has been one of the reasons airlines social teams have disengaged from AFF in the past, due to the negative nature and lack of relevance to the majority of travellers.

Disagree. Airlines do read AFF altho may not post! Good they read all about the delays so they can improve their on time performance.

 

[muppet]

I agree with respect to the general delays threads. It’s a shame to block fellow members, but it’s what I did years ago to avoid my “new posts” section being filled with delay updates.

However, for some people seeking specific advice as less experiences travellers, I think that’s fine and kind of the purpose of this forum isn’t it? Helping each other? While it’s not airport staff’s fault there are delays, often they are no help, especially to less experienced travellers (compared to the assistance they provide most of us as tiered FFs). So I like that many on here can respond and help people in a stressful situation when the airline won’t provide the correct advice or all the available options.

 

[eastwest101]

If you travel often enough you will realise that delays and cancellations are part of being a frequent flyer. What’s always left me feeling sad is the treatment staff get when such delays occur. It’s not the staff’s fault that you’re not getting to where you want to go when you want to go. So what is the positive outcome of posting such info here? IMHO all it does is add pressure to airline staff, in the unlikely event an aff’er is one of the poor folk who are affected they are already across what’s happening, which begs the question what’s the point of posting?

FWIW I suspect the publication of such threads has been one of the reasons airlines social teams have disengaged from AFF in the past, due to the negative nature and lack of relevance to the majority of travellers.

In my opinion, this is a bit of tennous connection to draw, its far more likely that budget cuts/airline management are not willing to pay for airline reps to engage on this site, or when they do they are only monitoring 'mainstream' social media such as Facebook/Twitter. From the competition behaviour of airlines (especially post covid) its pretty clear that they regard the Australian consumer as a captive market to take for granted in a cosy duopoly and don't see any need to appease/address the concerns of passengers; they have disengaged from any competitive tension and from any illusion of valuing customer feedback. I would suggest they are busy recovering lost profits during Covid, and monetising everything down to the air in the cabins of aircraft, and enhancing their frequent flyer schemes to be more profitable to care about what their customers think.