Why are USAir Flights from Philly to Munich soooooo Late?

Two years ago I flew from Philly to Munich. Right after I purchased my tickets I started watching the ontime arrival on their website, and, in about the first week, they were 10 and 12 hours late on two occasions. I called the airline to find out why, and got the run-around, until someone, just to get rid of me, transferred me to Operations. There I found out that these were due to mechanical difficulties that had to be fixed before the airplane could leave. Then I noticed that the gate numbers were never the same. I think that the flight to Munich is a low priority flight, so, if any plane to Europe is having mechanical difficulty, they assign it to Munich and put the working airplane, that was going to Munich, on the higher priority route.

I've flown on USAir from Philadelphia to Europe (including Munich) many times. Their flights generally arrive close to schedule. Weather here has been really crappy recently, so that might be causing delays in takeoffs once planes are away from the gate.

I flew out of Philadelphia twice this year to Amsterdam. Even though we boarded and pulled away from the gate on time, the first flight we were 22nd in line to take off and the second time we were 13th. Each time was at least a half hour delay. I like you, couldn't beat the airfare on USAir. Throw in a couple thunderstorms and Philadelphia is not top on my list to fly out of.

If there is a mechanical problem, one or two things happened:

1) By coincidence, those planes had mechanical problems.

2) A plane on an earlier scheduled flight had mechanical problems and it was switched out with the planes going to Munich hoping the mechanics could fix it by then. But they don't automatically say let's screw with the Munich flight.

Now as to why the flights are late:

1) Weather--in PHL or at MUC or enroute

2) ATC delays

3) Late arrival of connecting flight so the Munich flight might wait for passengers connecting to it in PHL.

4) Late arrival of that particular aircraft from its previous flight.

You can look at the on-time performance of your flight but it will have very little effect on what happens today, tomorrow or the next. The only thing I can say is that if the flight is constantly late, don't assume it will get better.

Hey Kelly, I'm afraid it's Philly. Flown out a couple dozen times on several differant carriers, just a few times do I remember getting in the air "on time". Remember an Air France flight when we left the gate 10 mins early only to wait thru a traffic tie up of aircraft that lasted about a hour and a half. I think flights out of Philly take a lower priority to flights going in and out of New York City, Baltimore, & Washington. As much as you don't want to hear this, you'll most likely have to embrace the horror of adjusting your first day Euro timetable. There's one advantage to flying out of Philly however, in the International Terminal there is a sports bar that serves great drinks and authentic Philly Cheese Steaks called Chickie's and Pete's. C & P's are always on my European Vacation Checklist! Have a great trip and don't sweat the details that you don't have any control over!

I couldn't comment on exactly why those flights were late... but in general, yes, flights often leave Philadelphia late, due to the fact that there is only one major runway and all airplanes have to line up in long queue before takeoff. On the bright side, since they opened their new international terminal, you rarely wait more than a few minutes for check-in or at the security line. For return flights, it also has the fastest passport control point I have encountered in the US.

Now I'm homesick for an Italian hoagie, a Tastykake and bottle of Yuengling...

Hey Kelly,
I'm going out Philly to Paris in 5 days. Flying out on US Airways too. I'll report back when I get back. Maybe Philly should be included as an entertaining part of the trip instead of just a cog in the transportation hub. I remember when Bill Parcells (who was coaching the New York Giants at the time) referred to Philadelphia as the Banana Republic. We are colorful!!!

When I used to fly internationally for the Air Force, we filed for an air space slot. It's kind of like a restaurant reservation. If you missed your take off time, you lost your slot - including your clearances along the route and your reservation to land.

That would explain the 30-120 minute delays. The 12 hour delay must be because a plane needed significant maintenance prior to take off (never a great sign).

I could see the "lining up to take off" issue causing a flight to lose it's slot and be forced to yield air space along the way and wait to land when they arrive.

As someone who has flown into and out of Philadelphia frequently, I also agree with the sentiment that it is Philadelphia and usually not the airplane or airline. the 1 runway approach and departure is accurate.

It is very rare to leave on time even though you're boarded and sitting on the plane waiting to go. Landing can sometimes be on time, but departures usually not. And if there is weather, forget it! Only Boston is affected worse by any weather.

And the real point is what to do about a short time frame between landing and train departure. Flexibility if at all possible. Don't buy a non-refundable ticket within 4 hours of your planned arrival. If you're flight is on time, then you have a nice time for lunch and relaxation in Munich. If your flight is a couple of hours late, you're still good for the later train departure.

I had to do this same thing last summer from Philly into Gatwick.

Good luck and have fun.

Thank you all for the insight and words of advice!!!!! I guess I should not stress out too much for those things that I can't control. The outgoing flight to any vacation destination is the worst part of the trip. The way people behave, the delays, the lost luggage, the anticipation of the unknown.......just get me there and all will be ok!

We flew to Europe at least a half dozen times from Philly, because I had free miles from USAirways or wished to gain some bonus miles.... On the rare occasions they were close to time, we had to deal with the return to Philly where people scream at you "Move it, Move it ...". Having just left Charles DeGaulle and Merci! S'il vous plait etal, European passengers were visibly disturbed...then it seemed that three drops of rain threw the whole schedule off, so we vowed "Never again Philadelphia. Just returned from Continental round trip to Portugal via Newark...we'll book with Continental again and plan never to return to Philly for overseas. George, Pittsburgh. PS We hate the Flyers too!.

Agree with George completely. Made the mistake of flying to Rome through Phil on US Air -- never, never again regardless of price. There is a reason for the US Airs low prices -- to get people like you to fly with them.