Flights cancelled, deceptive reason

[Meaux]

I just left the Denver airport, where my 5:30 am flight (along with many others on Southwest) was cancelled.  Their claim was nickel sized hail damaged the planes, which all had to be inspected prior to flight.  I didn't even question that until I left the airport.  

Looking at the Denver flight trackers, it appears this horrible hail somehow only hit Southwest planes, as nobody else is even DELAYED out of the airport.  Surely a weather incident of that caliber would have affected other airlines?  

I could have rescheduled for later today to a neighboring city but Southwest wouldn't assist with car rentals due to the cancellation being due to weather.  I feel like they aren't being honest as to the actual reason for the cancellation.  The lines in Denver were ridiculous when we left due to all of the displaced travellers.

I would sure like to hear the truth about why they cancelled their flights, and seemingly didn't make any effort to get flights off the ground delayed rather than cancelling completely.

[dfwskier]

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@Meaux wrote:

I just left the Denver airport, where my 5:30 am flight (along with many others on Southwest) was cancelled.  Their claim was nickel sized hail damaged the planes, which all had to be inspected prior to flight.  I didn't even question that until I left the airport.  

Looking at the Denver flight trackers, it appears this horrible hail somehow only hit Southwest planes, as nobody else is even DELAYED out of the airport.  Surely a weather incident of that caliber would have affected other airlines?  

I could have rescheduled for later today to a neighboring city but Southwest wouldn't assist with car rentals due to the cancellation being due to weather.  I feel like they aren't being honest as to the actual reason for the cancellation.  The lines in Denver were ridiculous when we left due to all of the displaced travellers.

I would sure like to hear the truth about why they cancelled their flights, and seemingly didn't make any effort to get flights off the ground delayed rather than cancelling completely.

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No deception involved

https://kdvr.com/2018/05/14/southwest-cancels-more-than-60-flights-at-dia-after-hailstorm-damages-pl...

https://denver.cbslocal.com/2018/05/14/flights-canceled-hail-denver-international-airport/

The same thing happened once last year when hail damaged planes at C concourse, but not A or B.

[DancingDavidE]

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@dfwskier wrote:

No decepetion involved

https://kdvr.com/2018/05/14/southwest-cancels-more-than-60-flights-at-dia-after-hailstorm-damages-pl...

https://denver.cbslocal.com/2018/05/14/flights-canceled-hail-denver-international-airport/

The same thing happened once last year when hail damaged planes at C concourse, but not A or B.

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It's been a rough year, I wouldn't fault them for being cautious. 

But man, how do you manage to have a hail storm come by that just scrapes the edge of the airport terminal catching your concourse but not the other guys, that's some bad luck.

[Meaux]

I mean, yes, the flights were cancelled.  Yes, there was hail.  It feels very convenient to use the storm as the excuse, however.   I think I would be more likely to believe them if we could see the results of the supposed inspections.  Probably they were legitimately  concerned at first, but it was better for their bottom line to leave the flights cancelled after determining that the planes we're okay but schedules would now be delayed.

[chgoflyer]

Canceling flights is never better for any carrier's bottom line.

[SWDigits]

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@chgoflyer wrote:

Canceling flights is never better for any carrier's bottom line.

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+1

[Meaux]

Of course, flights running as scheduled should be the best for bottom line.

However, perhaps they told their flight crews to stay home and come in fresh for later, then when ti was clear to use the planes (which were probably fine, the United Flights were) I suspect it was going to cost more to recover the staff for the delayed flights than it would cost to just leave the customers to fend for themselves.  Especially since they claimed weather as the reason, so no hotel or rental car vouchers, nor travel credits for the cancellations.

If you read the article linked above, it was something like only 4 other total flights cancelled from all of the rest of the airlines, when compared to 56 cancelled by Southwest.  Clearly something else is going on here.

[dfwskier]

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@Meaux wrote:

Of course, flights running as scheduled should be the best for bottom line.

However, perhaps they told their flight crews to stay home and come in fresh for later, then when ti was clear to use the planes (which were probably fine, the United Flights were) I suspect it was going to cost more to recover the staff for the delayed flights than it would cost to just leave the customers to fend for themselves.  Especially since they claimed weather as the reason, so no hotel or rental car vouchers, nor travel credits for the cancellations.

If you read the article linked above, it was something like only 4 other total flights cancelled from all of the rest of the airlines, when compared to 56 cancelled by Southwest.  Clearly something else is going on here.

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The articles also said that the hail pretty  much centered around concourse C. So it is not unexpected that Southwest was affected and other airlines were not.

Planes that are damaged must be inspected before flying again. The airline must insure tat the planes are airworthy.

Of course, the airline could have ignored that rule and had a plane or two crash. Would that have suited you better?