In the meanwhile, KLM appears to be combating working its Amsterdam to Miami route reliably, and I blame Nigeria. Is that this only a streak of unhealthy luck, or what’s going on?
KLM cancels three out of eight Miami flights
KLM is at present working a seasonal 3x weekly flight between Amsterdam and Miami, utilizing an Airbus A330. Ford was presupposed to take this flight at this time (eastbound), and sadly this morning he acquired a message that the flight was canceled, because the airplane by no means even left Amsterdam. Okay, the airline business is advanced, and airways can’t all the time function their community completely.
However the final scheduled flight, on February 11, was additionally canceled. The 5 earlier flights operated pretty reliably, although the January 28 flight was canceled as effectively. Which means of the final eight flights, three have been canceled — a 38% cancelation fee throughout eight providers isn’t precisely nice, particularly for a worldwide community service, and when there have been no main climate occasions.
Sadly this cancelation throws a wrench in our plans, however in fact I by no means depend on any single flight to function in response to schedule, and left a buffer earlier than our non-refundable plans at our vacation spot.
Why does KLM preserve canceling Miami flights?
Right here’s what confuses me concerning the constant cancelations of those flights.
Like every good aviation geek, I all the time attempt to observe inbound plane to determine the percentages of there being operational disruptions. As you may anticipate, I used to be monitoring this particularly carefully, given the 2 current cancelations, together with one simply two days in the past. I figured that certainly KLM wouldn’t cancel two back-to-back flights on the identical route, however I used to be confirmed mistaken!
Ford was presupposed to fly from Miami to Amsterdam, and naturally that plane arrives from Amsterdam, for the reason that airplane simply turns in Miami. Utilizing Flightradar24, I noticed that the plane scheduled to function the route had the license plate PH-AKF.
That airplane landed in Amsterdam early this morning from Lagos, as scheduled, so I assumed that was a superb signal. However nope, the flight was nonetheless canceled. Okay, certainly there will need to have been a upkeep problem? Effectively, no, that’s not the reason both, as a result of the plane ended up departing to Sint Maarten across the identical time that the Miami flight was scheduled to depart.
Precisely the identical was true for the 2 earlier cancelations in current weeks:
- On February 11, PH-AKA was scheduled to function the flight; it additionally arrived from Lagos, then the Miami flight was canceled, after which the airplane ended up flying to Atlanta, with a departure previous to the Miami flight
- On January 28, PH-AKD was scheduled to function the flight; it arrived from (you guessed it!) Lagos, then the Miami flight was canceled, after which the airplane ended up flying to Aruba, with a departure simply shortly after the Miami flight
Okay, this will get wilder, and I think that is type of how conspiracy theories begin, however it’s true. Over the course of the final eight flights:
- Each time the flight was canceled, the plane was coming from Lagos
- Each time the flight operated, the plane wasn’t coming from Lagos
Would anybody wish to attempt to make sense of that? Clearly these Miami cancelations aren’t about upkeep, for the reason that planes nonetheless fly. The one logical principle I can give you is that the flights are canceled for business causes, as a result of they’re not very busy.
Possibly Air France-KLM take a look at the collective availability on the 3x weekly Amsterdam flight and 2x each day Paris flight, after which cancel the Amsterdam flight when there’s sufficient room to accommodate individuals on the Paris flights? For what it’s value, on at this time’s flight enterprise class was full, although I’m unsure about financial system.
The actual query right here is how Lagos matches into all of this. Why does the flight preserve getting canceled when it comes from Lagos, whereas it doesn’t get canceled when coming from different locations?
Backside line
KLM has now canceled three of its final eight flights to Miami. In every case, this doesn’t look like on account of upkeep points, because the plane scheduled to function the route nonetheless flew elsewhere. For no matter purpose, the flights preserve getting canceled when the plane is coming from Lagos, whereas they function when the plane isn’t coming from Lagos. This one is an actual head-scratcher…
What’s your tackle this KLM Miami flight state of affairs?
