What's the truth behind the news on flight cancellations?

[Deleted User]

If you look at flight following sites such as Flightradar24, you will see that many early morning flights are departing 2 hours later than planned - presumably due to passenger handling and baggage loading issues. This has a knock on effect on flight crew duty times. As some crews can be programmed for up to 4 sectors a day then any further delays would require them to ‘night stop’ down route. Airlines are not happy to have an aircraft stuck on the ground in, say, Dalaman or Tenerife when it is required for 6 AM departure the following day. Sadly, flight crews cannot be left on standby for indefinite periods. 

I have a neighbour who was a 737 captain for a well known UK airline. He was laid off during Covid so he decided to become a HGV driver. He now earns more than he did as a pilot and he has no wish to go back to 4am starts. I suspect that he is not alone.

CKhalvashi

[Deleted User] said:

If you look at flight following sites such as Flightradar24, you will see that many early morning flights are departing 2 hours later than planned - presumably due to passenger handling and baggage loading issues. This has a knock on effect on flight crew duty times. As some crews can be programmed for up to 4 sectors a day then any further delays would require them to ‘night stop’ down route. Airlines are not happy to have an aircraft stuck on the ground in, say, Dalaman or Tenerife when it is required for 6 AM departure the following day. Sadly, flight crews cannot be left on standby for indefinite periods. 

I have a neighbour who was a 737 captain for a well known UK airline. He was laid off during Covid so he decided to become a HGV driver. He now earns more than he did as a pilot and he has no wish to go back to 4am starts. I suspect that he is not alone.

Then you have people like OH who wouldn't do anything else now she's qualified.

People like your neighbour (although she's A320 qualified) are what has OH a quick upgrade and is also what is enabling new crew into the industry. She loves the job, loves the lifestyle (those 4am starts equal 12pm finishes) and loves being able to bounce around the base network of the company she works for when they're short of crew. If I have time, I'll often join her while she's there, so it's been perfect opportunity to explore cities we've been looking at for several years.