[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I am surprised Frankfurt is on the list. It's the main hub for most people travelling to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. I would think it would be a pretty utilized route in Calgary.

The airline industry is a mess right now. Everyone that I know who has had to fly lately has been screwed over. My sister flew from Toronto to Vancouver this summer and had their flight cancelled just hours before take off and it took almost a day for the airline to get them on another plane (Air Canada). Then they had to stop over in Edmonton for 6 hours. Apparently there was no pilot available... but why sell tickets for a flight that doesn't even have a pilot assigned to it?And surely they knew this well ahead of time.

My brother-in-law just flew to Ottawa from Vancouver (West Jet), and the same thing happened. The flight was cancelled a couple of hours before it was supposed to depart, and then they had to catch a route that took them to Victoria, then Edmonton, then Ottawa. Again, a pilot issue. This time the pilot was delayed on his own flight and couldn't make it to Vancouver in time. That also seems odd to me.

For the first one, tickets get sold months in advance.
It's possible the pilot who should have been flying was sick and they couldn't find a replacement on short notice.

For the second one, Pilots are only allowed to fly a certain number of hours. If they get delayed and it's been too long since they started they can't fly again, even if they haven't been flying the whole time.

It sucks, but it's not like these are examples of gross incompetence. The industry is tight right now, like most others, and unforeseen things can happen that throw a wrench in things. It's probably happening more than usual lately, but it's not like airlines are sitting there going "Oh crap, we forgot we need a pilot to fly this plane".