Have you ever had an airline’s flight status page just show completely wrong information? Well, I encountered that yesterday in a way I’ve never seen before.
In this post:
My dad’s Silver Airways flight showed a four hour delay
Yesterday I booked my dad a ticket on Silver Airways (which I’ve reviewed before) from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa for same day travel. The fare was reasonable and schedule worked for him, so I booked the ticket for him and then immediately sent him the mobile boarding pass.
The flight was supposed to depart at 4:30PM and arrive at 5:45PM, but when I sent him the mobile boarding pass, he correctly noted that the flight showed a 9:42PM arrival. Huh?
That’s odd. I went to Silver Airways’ flight status page, to see what was going on. Well, now it all made sense — the flight was showing a delay of over four hours. and was now due to depart at 8:34PM rather than 4:30PM. Rats!
I also checked ExpertFlyer, and noticed that the “comments” section for the flight did hint at a similar delay, showing an 8:34PM departure and a 9:43PM arrival.
I made him aware of the bad news, though fortunately he hadn’t yet left to the airport. Despite Silver Airways and ExpertFlyer being in agreement, something just seemed a bit off here, though:
- I was tracking Silver Airways planes that were inbound & outbound to Fort Lauderdale, and all were more or less on-time
- I found it odd how the flight status page listed the status in past tense (“departed with delay” and “arrived with delay”), even though the flight hadn’t yet left
- Other flight tracking sources, like Google (which uses Cirium data) and Flightradar24 showed the flight as being on-time, and even showed a tail number for the plane, as the plane was on the ground in Fort Lauderdale at the correct time
- Based on that, my only theory was that the delay was due to crewing, and that they knew they could only get a pilot or flight attendant at a certain time
- I contacted Silver Airways, and they had no information beyond what the flight status page showed
So, what ended up happening?
I didn’t want my dad to sit at Fort Lauderdale Airport for over four hours, so initially I told him to just stay put until there was a further update. Nothing changed about the flight status through any source, but somehow my gut just said that something was wrong with the flight status, and that the flight might just operate on-time.
I noticed that the flight the evening before had operated with the revised schedule that Silver Airways’ flight status suggested applied to this flight. Did someone at Silver Airways just accidentally update status for the wrong date?
I apologized in advance to my dad in case I was wrong, since sitting at Fort Lauderdale Airport for four hours is very much not a prize.
So he showed up at the airport at 3:45PM, and was through security by 4PM. Moments later the flight boarded, and operated as planned. He even arrived in Tampa a few minutes early.
I can’t help but wonder how may people ended up missing the flight due to this incorrect flight status, or what caused that to begin with.
Bottom line
Typically when an airline posts a flight delay, you can trust that it’s accurate. Now, airlines may sometimes change their mind and move a flight forward if conditions change. However, in all my years of flying, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an airline seemingly just post the wrong flight status altogether.
My dad’s Silver Airways flight showed a four hour delay through Silver Airways’ website, yet ended up operating on-time. My best guess is that somehow the flight schedule for the previous day was instead loaded for his flight. I’m not sure how that actually happened, though…
What would you have done in this situation?
THE WORST. Once again another investment company Versa Capital Management, LLC, a Philadelphia-based private equity investment firm purchase that goes on to provide NO customer service. My recent experience was the airline changing the departure time 3 different occasions.Once from a 7;10pm departure time to a 1am departure time during the night before!!!!! I found out that Key West airport isn't opened at 1am.!! I screen shotted all their changes. And like others, went on...
THE WORST. Once again another investment company Versa Capital Management, LLC, a Philadelphia-based private equity investment firm purchase that goes on to provide NO customer service. My recent experience was the airline changing the departure time 3 different occasions.Once from a 7;10pm departure time to a 1am departure time during the night before!!!!! I found out that Key West airport isn't opened at 1am.!! I screen shotted all their changes. And like others, went on another flight sight to follow the flight. No return call from customer service. No help once I reached customer service on the third try. She Hund up on the call after being on hold for 30 minutes.
Anyway to make a long story short, the flight departed earlier than the scheduled time . My son missed the flight and work the next day. Until 1 hour before the flight, their website still showed a departure delay of 10pm. Still waiting for my refund!!
Silver Airways is one of the worse airlines to travel on, eventhough their fares are quite reasonable, what you get is not worth it, I booked on a flight to TLH a couple of weeks ago and the flight was suppose to board at 5:30pm for a 6:00pm departure, we'll it was 6:15pm and the gate agents and pilots were standing at the gate with no announcements made as to what was the delay about,...
Silver Airways is one of the worse airlines to travel on, eventhough their fares are quite reasonable, what you get is not worth it, I booked on a flight to TLH a couple of weeks ago and the flight was suppose to board at 5:30pm for a 6:00pm departure, we'll it was 6:15pm and the gate agents and pilots were standing at the gate with no announcements made as to what was the delay about, only after I approached the GA, did she make one, after boarding the flight we spent over an hour in that hot airplane waiting to be pushed back. On the return trip the next day, the flight was delayed over 4 hours and after asking airport personnel (police officers and bartenders) they often run late or even cancel their flights hours after the pax are left waiting for a delayed airplane.
First and last time I fly Silver Airways.
Let you tell you about my experience with them. So I booked a flight to Orlando on Tuesday for a 8pm flight. When I got to pensacola airport my flight was on time and most of the passengers said they were surprised. We got on plane on time and began taxiing to the run way. We made it to the point where we were going to take off. When all of a sudden we were...
Let you tell you about my experience with them. So I booked a flight to Orlando on Tuesday for a 8pm flight. When I got to pensacola airport my flight was on time and most of the passengers said they were surprised. We got on plane on time and began taxiing to the run way. We made it to the point where we were going to take off. When all of a sudden we were told brakes were over heated due to plane engine blowing on brakes. They told us they need to shut down for 5 minutes to reset alert. After 10 minutes they started plane and then we heard plane rev engine then was told sensor alerted high temperature again. We were told that the need to go back to gates. Said for 30 minutes. After a hours pilot to us we would be boarding again but plane was turned around so they could take right off once engine was on. Did they ever. They had everyone buckle up along with stuitest. When they turn engine on it was like a bullet we took off at 90 mph even around corners. Then we took off never slowing down. We all were happy about taken off but once we got in air we were worried about the landing with the brake issues. Flight was smooth and after about 1hr 10 minutes we were ready to land. Lots were scared of the brakes when we hit run way they never slowed down all the way to gate even around corners. I believe they were afraid of engine stalling not brakes. So my return flight was scheduled for a 630 trip. By 530 it was changed to 8 then 1030 then canceled. They but me on a 530 flight for next day. Next day I came to see if I could get on a earlier flight and saw flight was moved to 1030 and I looked for another flight but no luck. I decided to rent a car sine I could make it home driving be for flight even got there. I MADE it home by 630 and found out my 1030 flight was also canceled. I'll never use them again.
My wife and I booked same flight from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa on Feb. 5. The flight was delayed 3 times from 4:20pm til 9:40pm then the flight was cancelled. The agent told us there is no seat available for next day. We got cancellation refund number and promised will get the refund in 10 to 15 days. This is more than 20 days we are still waiting. We wrote email but no answer. We will never take Silver Airways again.
Absolutely not surprised. From misinformation from a flight attendant for perfect strangers end up missing a flight from Orlando to Huntsville and ended up scrambling for another flight on American airlines which made us instead of getting in at 4:30 p.m. we got in at 11:30 at night. And when it was mentioned to this airline they said sorry not another flight till Thursday and turn around and walked away.
As a former silver Airways employee, this company doesn't give two $hits about anything, anyone what so ever.
They always delayed every day and the customer service sucks.
I've even witness the gate employees leaving early so they don't have to rebook any miss flights.
Silver airways needs to be shut down , the equipments are 80% broken and they even let people fly in the planes where the a.c. at time...
As a former silver Airways employee, this company doesn't give two $hits about anything, anyone what so ever.
They always delayed every day and the customer service sucks.
I've even witness the gate employees leaving early so they don't have to rebook any miss flights.
Silver airways needs to be shut down , the equipments are 80% broken and they even let people fly in the planes where the a.c. at time isn't working or the lavatory.
Long story short
DONT
FLY
WITH
SILVER
AIRWAYS
Its a waste of time and not worth your anger over incompetent people
Many years ago, had a similar situation on a nonstop AA from Tulsa to O’Hare at about 5 pm (before Al Gore had “invented the Internet”) Bad weather (thunderstorms) from Dallas to Tulsa all day. AA’s status all day via auto phone message was “delayed.” At about 4 pm, still rotten weather, I called one last time- “on time.” Made the flight anyway. Go figure
This exact same thing happened to me on silver twice two weeks ago between Tampa and Key West. They are just don't have enough planes when one breaks down. They usually swap out a flight. In my case they cancelled the Greenville flight and reinstated the Key West flight because the next day they were full to Key West. This happened July 28th
I just check flightaware to see if the plane is physically there or not to decide when to go to the airport.
Plane can be confirmed to be on the ground, but can it be confirmed that there is a crew to operate it?
Silver Airways STINKS. They regularly delay the afternoon flight from GGT Bahamas to FLL and the cancel it at the last minute because it isn't full. Terrible customer service.
Silver Airways is the worse. We have traveled on this airline for often the only way to get to Exuma (as they partner with United for round trip tix).
Out of our 8 flights, seven were delayed. Five of those delays caused us to miss our connecting flight returning home. One flight to Exuma was diverted to Nassau for winds... but then the airline refused to fly back and left a plane full of travelers...
Silver Airways is the worse. We have traveled on this airline for often the only way to get to Exuma (as they partner with United for round trip tix).
Out of our 8 flights, seven were delayed. Five of those delays caused us to miss our connecting flight returning home. One flight to Exuma was diverted to Nassau for winds... but then the airline refused to fly back and left a plane full of travelers to fend for themselves for one night hotel stays and finding a new airline to fly back to Exuma. They have NOT refunded any of my extra money.
My husband's flight was cancelled same day. He rented a car and drove himself home, 8 hours. Never fly them again!!
Thank you for this timely post. It is a reminder to verify all avenues when querying a 'delay' and never trust any one source. My strategy is to arrive at the appropriate time when in doubt .... better a long Lounge stay than a missed flight.
I booked another flight on southwest thinking they would cancel. I even called silver at 9am yesterday. They had enough nerve to call me while on 7:30pm southwest flight. In my opinion I call this a scam. I plan to call again tomorrow. I'm sure they'll put me on hold for 6 hrs.
How empty did your Dad say the plane was? That might give hints as to how many people missed it
I have been using silver airlines for over 10 years however my last two flights were a disaster I What is scheduled to depart fromFort Lauderdale. However we had to find our own way to Miami to get home on a different airline hours and hours at the airports with no accommodations and no one answering the phone. They finally contacted me via email two months later saying there’s no compensation. My next flight said...
I have been using silver airlines for over 10 years however my last two flights were a disaster I What is scheduled to depart fromFort Lauderdale. However we had to find our own way to Miami to get home on a different airline hours and hours at the airports with no accommodations and no one answering the phone. They finally contacted me via email two months later saying there’s no compensation. My next flight said it was going to be delayed it had to be home so I had to run a car again they did not answer their phone or emails. I still have not heard from them regarding that flight a month and a half ago I don’t know what happened to this airline but I’m done
Don't airlines general advise you to show up at the scheduled departure time to avoid this very thing? 4 extra hours in most domestic airports are brutal, but I'd rather be 4 hours early than 2 minutes late.
Yes I always say show at the original time
I am taking a quick trip from Tampa to Nassau. Silver offered non stop at a good rate. However, reviews are very negative with frequent delays and cancellations. Thinking about taking AA through Miami even though longer travel time. Comments?
Agreed
I experienced something similar with TK in June. Their app said delayed from 22:30 to 23:45 but they began boarding at 22:30 and left at 23:00.
That's the worst airline I've ever seen, I still don't travel but 3 weeks before my flight they canceled my return and put it for the next day. I called (July 27 2022)to ask for an explanation and above all to know if they could accommodate the date for before and I was on hold for 2 hours to be answered at the end I left my number for the call back and I'm still...
That's the worst airline I've ever seen, I still don't travel but 3 weeks before my flight they canceled my return and put it for the next day. I called (July 27 2022)to ask for an explanation and above all to know if they could accommodate the date for before and I was on hold for 2 hours to be answered at the end I left my number for the call back and I'm still waiting. My flight was scheduled for August 4 to 2022 back on August 12, 2022 and was changed for the 13th horrible company. I don't recommend it!
What's the point in using the expert flyer comments if you don't know what they mean. If a flight is showing an on and in time it has already arrived. That probably would have been a good hint that something was wacky with the flight status.
Two instances this year- the Delta flight that was originally posted as delayed two hours but the GA told us to hang around the gate because this being Atlanta and narrow bodies, operations was trying to find an equipment swap for us and we ultimately got out only like 20 minutes late.
And then there was the Munich flight that was showing as departed when I went to bed in Germany only to become...
Two instances this year- the Delta flight that was originally posted as delayed two hours but the GA told us to hang around the gate because this being Atlanta and narrow bodies, operations was trying to find an equipment swap for us and we ultimately got out only like 20 minutes late.
And then there was the Munich flight that was showing as departed when I went to bed in Germany only to become cancelled when I got up in the morning - crew scheduling issue so the plane had never actually left DTW.
Had an even weirder one happen on Frontier (of course). Got a cancellation notice the day before, but then everything showed on time. Even at the airport, the check-in desk checked us in, checked other people's luggage, and issued boarding passes. Later, at the gate there was no plane and no staff to assist.
I had a 4 hour delay Friday evening on Silver Airways from Ft. Lauderdale to Orlando with no updates or information at the airport or on Silver Airlines website. Very bad experience and total inconvenience. Not happy with Silver Airways. Very, very poor communication and customer service.
If I’m flying from an away airport (not NYC) than unfortunately I always arrive by habit before the scheduled time. Sometimes I try to wait standby for another flight that leaves earlier.
But I don’t think I’ve ever had an instance like yours. Some form of investigating always clears up the mixup. I probably would have ended up missing the flight!
I've been on a BA flight that was posted as departing an hour late (we got emails and everything) but ended up departing on time. The delay was revoked a few hours before our flight (coincidentally, when FR24 assigned us an aircraft tail number). Weird...
So it’s Flightradar24 assigning tail numbers?
Interesting, so Flightradar24 is doing the aircraft disposition ? Nice of them . ;)
I had this happen on a United flight from YYZ to EWR. It was heavy snow in YYZ and I checked online - sure enough flight was showing cancelled. Showed up at the airport anyway - drove on the 401 with snow so heavy it was just a free for all since it’s hard to tell 12 lanes apart when covered in snow!
Anyway - got there and the flight left on time. There were only a handful of people on board.
I had a buddy flying from Key West to Tampa that had a similar situation with Silver just recently. His flight was delayed until 8:40. It was originally scheduled around 5. Since he just had a carry on and security is a breeze that time of day I dropped him off 1 hour before takeoff. When he arrived st the gate plane was boarded and getting ready for takeoff. Once he boarded door was closed and plane took off, 45 minutes before status said it was supposed to leave.
It happens more often than you think. It is most likely a data input/processing error as the previous days flight rescheduling crossed over to the next day UTC so there was a double record for 3M92/30JUL.
If I ever go on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" you're going to be my phone-a-friend.