American Airlines reportedly has plans to improve how it handles rolling delays, which are probably the most frustrating types of delays that passengers can endure. I’m simultaneously delighted that this is happening, and angry that it took executives at the airline until the year 2026 to say “gee, maybe let’s try to ever-so-slightly respect the time of our customers.”
American trialing new handling of rolling delays
Flight delays are of course frustrating, but they can happen for a variety of reasons, many of which are outside the control of airlines, given the complexities of aviation. What’s most infuriating about delays is when airlines do a poor job communicating with and empowering customers during delays. There are a few things that can make a delay experience exponentially less frustrating:
- It’s nice when airlines make an effort to be accurate with how long a delay will be ahead of time (to the best of their ability), so that customers can adjust their schedules accordingly, rather than just being huddled at the gate
- It’s helpful when airlines are transparent about the reasons for delays, so that passengers can make their own decisions as to how they’d like to proceed
- It’s also valuable when airlines make it easy for passengers to control their own travels by being able to easily rebook via the app or website
These are areas where American has largely been improving in recent times. American’s app and website now share why flights are delayed. American has also gotten better with its self rebooking capabilities for passengers.
Arguably one major point of frustration has continued to be a lack of honesty during rolling delays about when a flight will actually depart. That brings us to the latest news shared by the always in-the-loop JonNYC, who reports that American finally has a plan to address rolling delays.
The idea is that American will actually try to be more realistic during rolling delays with giving passengers a sense of when a flight will depart. The program will reportedly be piloted in Charlotte (CLT), and will hopefully expand throughout the system in due course.
For so long, so many of us have used things like Flightradar24, or even the inbound flight information, to estimate when a flight would actually depart, rather than just relying on what the airline tells us. After all, if your inbound aircraft hasn’t even landed, it’s literally impossible for boarding to start, no matter what the airline’s flight status page says.
American is improving, and that’s great and terrible
American is making meaningful improvements at the moment, and clearly realizes that you can’t treat customers like self loading freight without it impacting the bottom line in the long run. So it’s great to see the pace at which American is improving, and more accurately, narrowing the gap with the competition.
But in the same way, these improvements are also so infuriating. The same very senior executives who’ve Mitch McConnelled it through the past decade while enriching themselves are now the ones making these changes, years after competitors.
For how many years have American frequent flyers complained about the carrier’s abhorrent delay handling? And somehow it’s only now that they’re like “yeah, maybe we should look into fixing that?” Like I said, I’m delighted to see the changes, but this is precisely why the very top of American’s management chain has lost the respect of customers and employees. You can’t burn the house down and then say “hey, look at the beautiful home we’re now building!”
Anyway, I’ll stop beating my dead horse. Kudos to everyone, except ISO/R and (in the past) PAR/D.
Bottom line
American Airlines is reportedly working on a program to improve the handling of rolling delays, and it’s expected to be trialed in Charlotte in the near future. Handling of rolling delays has long been a disaster at the airline, so I’m happy to see this.
Credit to the people working on turning things around at American. It’s just a shame that things had to get this bad, and that American can’t have a visionary leader who can start an actual turnaround of the company’s culture.
What do you make of American’s focus on the handling of rolling delays?
Posting more accurate ETD’s will not solve American’s operational issues, in fact the new policy will actually cause more and longer delays. Soon American will be adding more gates at DFW, it’s only going to get worse.
Just another example of how sucking is the culture at AA.
Most of the employees have been as frustrated as the customers - often more so! You can always get an unprepped for curveball thrown at you, but it all really starts with poor planning and decision-making in the HDQ, be it schedule builds, turn times, acft types, crew scheduling, or overly optimistic expectations around weather and ATC issues.
So they do what you want and you call that “infuriating”? Good lord
The biggest snarl here is that sometimes the airline will change aircraft for the flight. For example, they might cancel another flight outright (say your inbound aircraft is coming from NYC, NYC is hosed due to weather, and your crew isn't on the inbound flight - a later NYC flight might get canned and you get the plane that was going to NYC).
This can lead not only to the departure time moving back up,...
The biggest snarl here is that sometimes the airline will change aircraft for the flight. For example, they might cancel another flight outright (say your inbound aircraft is coming from NYC, NYC is hosed due to weather, and your crew isn't on the inbound flight - a later NYC flight might get canned and you get the plane that was going to NYC).
This can lead not only to the departure time moving back up, but to a major last-minute gate move (this has happened to me at MIA, ATL, and JFK).
The other thing that is an issue at AA is that I nominally had a waiver to switch a flight going through MIA during the crash investigation, but I would have had to pay the fare difference. By the time the evening flight was actually delayed, I basically had no same-day options.
Related to that, AA doesn't give options with a forced overnight (or to swap destinations) , which would let me at least get out of ATL and plop myself at DFW/ORD/MIA/NYC/PHL/DCA for a morning flight without an inbound stupid o'clock flight. I probably prefer not to get stuck somewhere, but if I'm going to be stuck I'd like more control over where. Also, depending on where I'm going, I can plausibly get a lot closer and then use my TI to patch the final leg if all else fails.
Suggestion: stop referring to AA as a collective whole implementing these positive changes. Refer to Nat Pieper or Heather Garboden to craft the more accurate narrative.
Oh shame I enjoyed calling their system ImaginAAry Time
They have a long way to go, but at least they're trying. Got an update from American last night at 8:29 PM PST that weather in Chicago could impact my flight the next morning. It had been widely reported on weather sites storms were rolling in for at least 12 hours before that. Getting a notice after its too late to switch flights the night before is fairly useless. Fortunately, a colleague flying United gave...
They have a long way to go, but at least they're trying. Got an update from American last night at 8:29 PM PST that weather in Chicago could impact my flight the next morning. It had been widely reported on weather sites storms were rolling in for at least 12 hours before that. Getting a notice after its too late to switch flights the night before is fairly useless. Fortunately, a colleague flying United gave me a heads up and I switched to an evening flight before the storm hit.
They may be secretly doing this elsewhere. Thursday I was on standby for a BWI-ORD flight to get me home four hours early. Naturally the plane was flying ORD-BWI, and naturally there was weather in Chicago. Instead of a rolling delay, they slapped a two-hour delay on the flip trip that I was on standby for. Leave it to my luck to be at an airport with no Admirals Club. In a very timely fashion...
They may be secretly doing this elsewhere. Thursday I was on standby for a BWI-ORD flight to get me home four hours early. Naturally the plane was flying ORD-BWI, and naturally there was weather in Chicago. Instead of a rolling delay, they slapped a two-hour delay on the flip trip that I was on standby for. Leave it to my luck to be at an airport with no Admirals Club. In a very timely fashion (roughly an hour from boarding), it became a three-hour delay and was posted with an explanation. All said, I got home an hour early instead of four hours and gave up an F upgrade. However, if they'd done the rolling delay BS, I would have gone bonkers. So credit to AA.
Next AA needs to fix the endless multiple gate changes at DFW that have you perpetually going from terminal to terminal with the mad dash right up to the last minute.
This is such an infrequent traveler grandma problem lol. Sit your ass down anywhere. Don’t even look at the gate assignment until 15 minutes prior to boarding. Why the hell would you be running around the airport?
Absolutely, why chase the gates around? But I guess that is the same people in group 9 that crowd the gate area waiting to board before even concierge key is called.
Skytrax #4 most improved airline for 2026!!! If they keep working hard like this maybe in 2027 they can dethrone EgyptAir for #1 most improved. Fingers crossed!
That deserved both a 'Helpful' and a 'Yowzers!'
Whenever there’s a rolling delay I check flightaware, it provides more reliable information than the app (it’s currently actively misleading) and the gate agents.
what amazes me about aa is when my flight is scheduled to depart late afternoon, say around 4:30pm, but early in the morning around 6am, i get an email telling me my flight will be delayed. i think to myself - ok, they have 10 hours to figure this out, no ops team could be this inefficient. but then at 4:30pm departure time - yep, flight delayed to 5pm, then 5:30, then 6pm, then 6:30,...
what amazes me about aa is when my flight is scheduled to depart late afternoon, say around 4:30pm, but early in the morning around 6am, i get an email telling me my flight will be delayed. i think to myself - ok, they have 10 hours to figure this out, no ops team could be this inefficient. but then at 4:30pm departure time - yep, flight delayed to 5pm, then 5:30, then 6pm, then 6:30, then 7pm. finally at 7pm they find an aircraft, which, when you check its flight details, had actually landed earlier that day at 1pm (and no, this wasn't the aircraft originally scheduled for the 4:30 flight). so i ask myself: when did they realize they could use this aircraft? and didn't it occur to anyone that they could've used a same-type aircraft scheduled to fly at 5, 5:30, 6, or 6:30, and cut down the delay for everyone involved?
and to add insult to injury is when the app says aircraft is at the gate or boarding and u leave the lounge only to stand around at the gate for the next 2 hours because they do the next 20mins BS.
Probably took that long to find a replacement crew that wouldn't time out on the outbound taxi. The system usually has 3 different routings that have to coincide with each other to get an on time departure: acft, pilots, and fly attendants. When things start to fall apart, the first thing they try to do is get the 2 halves of the crews and acft together. Personally, I think that should be done ALL the time.
Welcomed news. Shame it took so long. It can be incredibly frustrating.
You will still see it with summer weather. AA can't really predict when the thunderstorms will end and the airport will reopen for activity. The rolling delays discourage passengers from wandering around the airport once boarding commences and there may be another cell on the way so the gate agent wants to get the flight boarded and on it's way.
AA has gotten better at maintenance. Not posting endless 15 minute delays when maintenance had...
You will still see it with summer weather. AA can't really predict when the thunderstorms will end and the airport will reopen for activity. The rolling delays discourage passengers from wandering around the airport once boarding commences and there may be another cell on the way so the gate agent wants to get the flight boarded and on it's way.
AA has gotten better at maintenance. Not posting endless 15 minute delays when maintenance had advised it will take at least two hours to fix a problem.
"Hi, we are delayed until the weather clears. It could be 10 minutes or 2 hours. Don't stray more than 15 minutes from the gate or you'll risk missing the fight when we eventually start boarding."
Infinitely better than what airlines do now.
They need to figure out when a late flight is coming into the hub they have a gate / it seems when you are late they never realize you are coming and compound the delay by not having a gate to use even when you can look at the window and see gates open
Sometimes the acft doesn't fit the jet way at the gate, or they don't have tow equipment for that type acft at that gate. Always a potential problem when an airline uses 20 different kinds of airplanes!
Well hold on a second; we can't complain about all the gate changes in one breath and then complain why they don't use a different arrival gate in the next breath. Gate changes suck, yes - they are complex and confusing for many. And I would support the fact that, when needed, they can and should be coordinated further in advance, but at a major hub with multiple terminals it's extra hard. Not impossible, but difficult to pull off smoothly.
Unless and until there are real incentives (or financial penalties), companies will not prioritize operational reliability.
We are past due to implement meaningful air passenger rights legislation in the US that includes a duty of care, compensation, and rebooking (even with competitors) in the US.
EU and UK 261 shows the way. Peer-reviewed empirical evidence shows that it does improve reliability, doesn’t bankrupt airlines or skyrocket fares (see Ryanair). Travel insurance alone isn’t enough. We...
Unless and until there are real incentives (or financial penalties), companies will not prioritize operational reliability.
We are past due to implement meaningful air passenger rights legislation in the US that includes a duty of care, compensation, and rebooking (even with competitors) in the US.
EU and UK 261 shows the way. Peer-reviewed empirical evidence shows that it does improve reliability, doesn’t bankrupt airlines or skyrocket fares (see Ryanair). Travel insurance alone isn’t enough. We deserve better. Perhaps a new Congress and administration will finally protect consumers.
Such legislation is a genuine and powerful incentive for airlines to avoid cancellations or delays wherever possible and to proactively rebook, even on other carriers. I recently had a flight with Swiss, from London to South Africa, connecting through Zurich. The short-haul leg was cancelled and by the time I got my checked luggage back, I had an email from Swiss confirming me on a direct flight on BA the same evening. Swiss clearly wanted...
Such legislation is a genuine and powerful incentive for airlines to avoid cancellations or delays wherever possible and to proactively rebook, even on other carriers. I recently had a flight with Swiss, from London to South Africa, connecting through Zurich. The short-haul leg was cancelled and by the time I got my checked luggage back, I had an email from Swiss confirming me on a direct flight on BA the same evening. Swiss clearly wanted to avoid paying the EU compensation, so did whatever they had to do to get me to my destination within the window allowed before the compensation is triggered.
Honestly they are the worst! I experienced this with AA a few weeks ago where my ORD-DFW flight kept getting rolling delays every 30 min for over 3 hours. I couldn’t rebook as I checked bags and wanted to ensure I started with them. I saw the flight was delayed again but this time for an hour so I decided to go back up to the lounge for a bit and wait - then they...
Honestly they are the worst! I experienced this with AA a few weeks ago where my ORD-DFW flight kept getting rolling delays every 30 min for over 3 hours. I couldn’t rebook as I checked bags and wanted to ensure I started with them. I saw the flight was delayed again but this time for an hour so I decided to go back up to the lounge for a bit and wait - then they decided to leave 20 min later and depart early and never contacted me once! The app didn’t even notify me! In the end not only did I wait for nearly 4 hours but they left without me and took my bags! Americ*nt at its finest!
Are the other airlines like Delta and United doing this? It's quite angering rushing to the gate at LAX because the display and app shows an on-time departure only to learn the inbound aircraft is still over the Grand Canyon.
Reactive managment instead of proactive managment… This is what AA has been doing, and unfortunately that still hasn’t changed yet.
I don’t know man - they are so dumb that I lost hope .
For instance - in April , BOS-ORD(overnight)-YYC , we got diverted due to bad weather in Chicago to Cincinnati where overnighted and got rebooked with an agent to 5:00am flight that arrives in ORD at 5:50am . After arrival in ORD and checked in the Admiral's club for the 10:00am flight to YYC we got rebooked an hour later for the...
I don’t know man - they are so dumb that I lost hope .
For instance - in April , BOS-ORD(overnight)-YYC , we got diverted due to bad weather in Chicago to Cincinnati where overnighted and got rebooked with an agent to 5:00am flight that arrives in ORD at 5:50am . After arrival in ORD and checked in the Admiral's club for the 10:00am flight to YYC we got rebooked an hour later for the next day due to missed connection. AA didn’t know that AA rebooked us on 5am flight , AA didn’t know that we boarded and arrived in ORD at 5:50am for 10:00am departure , nor knew we entered Admirals club with the BPs for the 10:00am flight (family of three ). Thankfully, an hour before boarding , the lounge agent was able to fix the nonsense .
I can’t help but wonder how someone that dumb is not jobless or bankrupt ..
I don't see why they need to "trial" this. It cannot be that hard update software to delay a flight if it's going to arrive at the gate 5 minutes before it's scheduled to take off.
It's not difficult, and an update isn't needed. It's not done now because the agents honestly don't know what will happen. What IS needed is more responsible and rapid decision-making coming out of the Ops Center. Too often, they're as changeable as the weather because the higher-ups always question the very experienced and talented people they've put in charge to run the airline! Too much middle management scared for their jobs will do that to an airline.
Mitch McConnelled it indeed. well put - better late than never, but goddamn is it late
Nancy Pelosied it, too. All the rich, self-serving dinosaurs must go.
dinosaurs you say...I'm more interested in getting rid of pedophiles. one wonders why you are not.