No other passengers?

[Anonymous]

Just booked a flight from an airline hub to Miami for June. The flight is at 8pm, which I know is undesirable as it’s the last flight of the night, but there are zero other passengers on the flight. By comparison, our return, Miami-hub has quite a few passengers, even some first class seats booked.

Are we still just really early, or should we anticipate this will be a pretty empty flight?

[Anonymous]

So early. It will fill or they will cancel it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So early. It will fill or they will cancel it.

No idea where people got this idea that airlines periodically cancel individual flights if there aren't enough bookings. It's a very costly thing to cancel a flight- the entire system is a ballet of staff, airplanes going from location to location, cargo, etc. It may seem like cost savings to cancel a flight if its only half full, but if it hasn't been planned out and managed, it's usually a net cost. That's why they have an ongoing planning process and schedule overhaul that is done 6+ months in advance. Of course there are tweaks here and there, but not based on individual flights.

And to the OP's question- seats reserved have no direct relationship with total tickets booked, etc. Especially with most seat reservations having costs now. A seat map is simply not indicative of much of anything until a couple of hours before a flight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So early. It will fill or they will cancel it.

No idea where people got this idea that airlines periodically cancel individual flights if there aren't enough bookings. It's a very costly thing to cancel a flight- the entire system is a ballet of staff, airplanes going from location to location, cargo, etc. It may seem like cost savings to cancel a flight if its only half full, but if it hasn't been planned out and managed, it's usually a net cost. That's why they have an ongoing planning process and schedule overhaul that is done 6+ months in advance. Of course there are tweaks here and there, but not based on individual flights.

And to the OP's question- seats reserved have no direct relationship with total tickets booked, etc. Especially with most seat reservations having costs now. A seat map is simply not indicative of much of anything until a couple of hours before a flight.

This. It’s not getting cancelled because the plane needs to be repositioned either way, or there is a chain reaction of delays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So early. It will fill or they will cancel it.

No idea where people got this idea that airlines periodically cancel individual flights if there aren't enough bookings. It's a very costly thing to cancel a flight- the entire system is a ballet of staff, airplanes going from location to location, cargo, etc. It may seem like cost savings to cancel a flight if its only half full, but if it hasn't been planned out and managed, it's usually a net cost. That's why they have an ongoing planning process and schedule overhaul that is done 6+ months in advance. Of course there are tweaks here and there, but not based on individual flights.

And to the OP's question- seats reserved have no direct relationship with total tickets booked, etc. Especially with most seat reservations having costs now. A seat map is simply not indicative of much of anything until a couple of hours before a flight.

What? We fly regularly. If the algorithm says a flight isn’t seeing enough interest, they absolutely cancel it and move you to another one. Not the day before, but weeks or months before. It happens to use probably once a year. Just happened on our flight over to London this summer. Virgin got rid of the later overnight flight and moved us all to the earlier one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So early. It will fill or they will cancel it.

No idea where people got this idea that airlines periodically cancel individual flights if there aren't enough bookings. It's a very costly thing to cancel a flight- the entire system is a ballet of staff, airplanes going from location to location, cargo, etc. It may seem like cost savings to cancel a flight if its only half full, but if it hasn't been planned out and managed, it's usually a net cost. That's why they have an ongoing planning process and schedule overhaul that is done 6+ months in advance. Of course there are tweaks here and there, but not based on individual flights.

And to the OP's question- seats reserved have no direct relationship with total tickets booked, etc. Especially with most seat reservations having costs now. A seat map is simply not indicative of much of anything until a couple of hours before a flight.

What? We fly regularly. If the algorithm says a flight isn’t seeing enough interest, they absolutely cancel it and move you to another one. Not the day before, but weeks or months before. It happens to use probably once a year. Just happened on our flight over to London this summer. Virgin got rid of the later overnight flight and moved us all to the earlier one.

That's a schedule change/adjustment, and it's done months in advance and across the entire schedule to sync everything up. As you said, your flight was not cancelled, but the time was shifted. Sometimes yes there are significant cancellations as part of this, but it's done broadly across an entire market, not on a specific day basis. As an example, United used to have 3 flights a day to London from Dulles, but since fall 2023 they have dropped that to 2 because of lower demand and a desire to utilize those planes on other routes. But dropping that flight was done across the schedule, 6 months in advance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So early. It will fill or they will cancel it.

No idea where people got this idea that airlines periodically cancel individual flights if there aren't enough bookings. It's a very costly thing to cancel a flight- the entire system is a ballet of staff, airplanes going from location to location, cargo, etc. It may seem like cost savings to cancel a flight if its only half full, but if it hasn't been planned out and managed, it's usually a net cost. That's why they have an ongoing planning process and schedule overhaul that is done 6+ months in advance. Of course there are tweaks here and there, but not based on individual flights.

And to the OP's question- seats reserved have no direct relationship with total tickets booked, etc. Especially with most seat reservations having costs now. A seat map is simply not indicative of much of anything until a couple of hours before a flight.

What? We fly regularly. If the algorithm says a flight isn’t seeing enough interest, they absolutely cancel it and move you to another one. Not the day before, but weeks or months before. It happens to use probably once a year. Just happened on our flight over to London this summer. Virgin got rid of the later overnight flight and moved us all to the earlier one.

I am a flight attendant and I’m sorry, but you are wrong or misinformed.

In OPs case, ?-MIA, there are a whole plane full of people in MIA waiting to fly somewhere. The plane needs to get to MIA so it can take the people to ?, and then from ?, to … and … So on and so forth.

And I’ve flown many a flight where there are fewer than 10 pax on board. The plane, as someone else said, will be repositioned with the crew for the next flight.

Airlines DO NOT cancel a flight because there isn’t anyone on it. It would become a non-revenue ferry flight, but it’s going out, because someone where it is going needs it and/or the crew there.

[Anonymous]

Depends on if they need the plane there or not for the next leg.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So early. It will fill or they will cancel it.

No idea where people got this idea that airlines periodically cancel individual flights if there aren't enough bookings. It's a very costly thing to cancel a flight- the entire system is a ballet of staff, airplanes going from location to location, cargo, etc. It may seem like cost savings to cancel a flight if its only half full, but if it hasn't been planned out and managed, it's usually a net cost. That's why they have an ongoing planning process and schedule overhaul that is done 6+ months in advance. Of course there are tweaks here and there, but not based on individual flights.

Frequent flyer here. They do adjust the schedule or cancel flights if there is low interest. I book my travel very far in advance, like usually 9-11 months ahead, as we have certain company events at the same time every year. If I'm flying on Saturday, I've had flights cancelled or changed many times. I have one next month to our office in LA from BWI on United. I think it was an 8am departure, direct. Then it was changed to a 6am direct departure and the 8am flight disappeared. Then they cancelled the 6am flight and now I'm on a 8am to LA via Denver. The only direct on United from BWI to LA on Saturday is now the evening flight.

On the other hand, I've been one of only 2 passengers on a flight, typically the last flight of the night on short flights from a hub to a non-hub. I think last time this happened, I was on EWR-DCA on United. The FA let my colleague and I have the run of the snack basket as we were the only passengers on board!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So early. It will fill or they will cancel it.

No idea where people got this idea that airlines periodically cancel individual flights if there aren't enough bookings. It's a very costly thing to cancel a flight- the entire system is a ballet of staff, airplanes going from location to location, cargo, etc. It may seem like cost savings to cancel a flight if its only half full, but if it hasn't been planned out and managed, it's usually a net cost. That's why they have an ongoing planning process and schedule overhaul that is done 6+ months in advance. Of course there are tweaks here and there, but not based on individual flights.

And to the OP's question- seats reserved have no direct relationship with total tickets booked, etc. Especially with most seat reservations having costs now. A seat map is simply not indicative of much of anything until a couple of hours before a flight.

What? We fly regularly. If the algorithm says a flight isn’t seeing enough interest, they absolutely cancel it and move you to another one. Not the day before, but weeks or months before. It happens to use probably once a year. Just happened on our flight over to London this summer. Virgin got rid of the later overnight flight and moved us all to the earlier one.

I am a flight attendant and I’m sorry, but you are wrong or misinformed.

In OPs case, ?-MIA, there are a whole plane full of people in MIA waiting to fly somewhere. The plane needs to get to MIA so it can take the people to ?, and then from ?, to … and … So on and so forth.

And I’ve flown many a flight where there are fewer than 10 pax on board. The plane, as someone else said, will be repositioned with the crew for the next flight.

Airlines DO NOT cancel a flight because there isn’t anyone on it. It would become a non-revenue ferry flight, but it’s going out, because someone where it is going needs it and/or the crew there.

What the PPs are trying to say is that flights are often "canceled" (or "merged" with other flights) months in advance. Obviously, they are not canceled the week prior. So with that said, it is entirely possible for this flight to be somehow changed so that there is no longer a late evening flight to MIA on that day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So early. It will fill or they will cancel it.

No idea where people got this idea that airlines periodically cancel individual flights if there aren't enough bookings. It's a very costly thing to cancel a flight- the entire system is a ballet of staff, airplanes going from location to location, cargo, etc. It may seem like cost savings to cancel a flight if its only half full, but if it hasn't been planned out and managed, it's usually a net cost. That's why they have an ongoing planning process and schedule overhaul that is done 6+ months in advance. Of course there are tweaks here and there, but not based on individual flights.

And to the OP's question- seats reserved have no direct relationship with total tickets booked, etc. Especially with most seat reservations having costs now. A seat map is simply not indicative of much of anything until a couple of hours before a flight.

What? We fly regularly. If the algorithm says a flight isn’t seeing enough interest, they absolutely cancel it and move you to another one. Not the day before, but weeks or months before. It happens to use probably once a year. Just happened on our flight over to London this summer. Virgin got rid of the later overnight flight and moved us all to the earlier one.

I am a flight attendant and I’m sorry, but you are wrong or misinformed.

In OPs case, ?-MIA, there are a whole plane full of people in MIA waiting to fly somewhere. The plane needs to get to MIA so it can take the people to ?, and then from ?, to … and … So on and so forth.

And I’ve flown many a flight where there are fewer than 10 pax on board. The plane, as someone else said, will be repositioned with the crew for the next flight.

Airlines DO NOT cancel a flight because there isn’t anyone on it. It would become a non-revenue ferry flight, but it’s going out, because someone where it is going needs it and/or the crew there.

What the PPs are trying to say is that flights are often "canceled" (or "merged" with other flights) months in advance. Obviously, they are not canceled the week prior. So with that said, it is entirely possible for this flight to be somehow changed so that there is no longer a late evening flight to MIA on that day.

Yes, but it will be done across the schedule, not just for say June 27 because they only sold 30% of the tickets for the flight that day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So early. It will fill or they will cancel it.

No idea where people got this idea that airlines periodically cancel individual flights if there aren't enough bookings. It's a very costly thing to cancel a flight- the entire system is a ballet of staff, airplanes going from location to location, cargo, etc. It may seem like cost savings to cancel a flight if its only half full, but if it hasn't been planned out and managed, it's usually a net cost. That's why they have an ongoing planning process and schedule overhaul that is done 6+ months in advance. Of course there are tweaks here and there, but not based on individual flights.

Frequent flyer here. They do adjust the schedule or cancel flights if there is low interest. I book my travel very far in advance, like usually 9-11 months ahead, as we have certain company events at the same time every year. If I'm flying on Saturday, I've had flights cancelled or changed many times. I have one next month to our office in LA from BWI on United. I think it was an 8am departure, direct. Then it was changed to a 6am direct departure and the 8am flight disappeared. Then they cancelled the 6am flight and now I'm on a 8am to LA via Denver. The only direct on United from BWI to LA on Saturday is now the evening flight.

On the other hand, I've been one of only 2 passengers on a flight, typically the last flight of the night on short flights from a hub to a non-hub. I think last time this happened, I was on EWR-DCA on United. The FA let my colleague and I have the run of the snack basket as we were the only passengers on board!

Yup because that plane is going to turn around and operate the 6 AM flight to the hub the next morning, to feed into the first big connecting flow of the day at the hub.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So early. It will fill or they will cancel it.

No idea where people got this idea that airlines periodically cancel individual flights if there aren't enough bookings. It's a very costly thing to cancel a flight- the entire system is a ballet of staff, airplanes going from location to location, cargo, etc. It may seem like cost savings to cancel a flight if its only half full, but if it hasn't been planned out and managed, it's usually a net cost. That's why they have an ongoing planning process and schedule overhaul that is done 6+ months in advance. Of course there are tweaks here and there, but not based on individual flights.

And to the OP's question- seats reserved have no direct relationship with total tickets booked, etc. Especially with most seat reservations having costs now. A seat map is simply not indicative of much of anything until a couple of hours before a flight.

What? We fly regularly. If the algorithm says a flight isn’t seeing enough interest, they absolutely cancel it and move you to another one. Not the day before, but weeks or months before. It happens to use probably once a year. Just happened on our flight over to London this summer. Virgin got rid of the later overnight flight and moved us all to the earlier one.

I am a flight attendant and I’m sorry, but you are wrong or misinformed.

In OPs case, ?-MIA, there are a whole plane full of people in MIA waiting to fly somewhere. The plane needs to get to MIA so it can take the people to ?, and then from ?, to … and … So on and so forth.

And I’ve flown many a flight where there are fewer than 10 pax on board. The plane, as someone else said, will be repositioned with the crew for the next flight.

Airlines DO NOT cancel a flight because there isn’t anyone on it. It would become a non-revenue ferry flight, but it’s going out, because someone where it is going needs it and/or the crew there.

What the PPs are trying to say is that flights are often "canceled" (or "merged" with other flights) months in advance. Obviously, they are not canceled the week prior. So with that said, it is entirely possible for this flight to be somehow changed so that there is no longer a late evening flight to MIA on that day.

Exactly. This happens all the time and I’m shocked people are saying it doesn’t.

[Anonymous]

Reminds me of this old Ziggy cartoon:

https://x.com/GitRDoneLarry/status/1695303860573663267?mx=2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just booked a flight from an airline hub to Miami for June. The flight is at 8pm, which I know is undesirable as it’s the last flight of the night, but there are zero other passengers on the flight. By comparison, our return, Miami-hub has quite a few passengers, even some first class seats booked.

Are we still just really early, or should we anticipate this will be a pretty empty flight?

Do you have anxiety OP? This sounds like something my mom would worry about.