Passengers 'stuck' as Tet flights keep changing times

Flights constantly adjust departure times, causing many passengers to be "stuck", their travel plans disrupted, and their psychological anxiety about their schedule to return home for Tet.

Having bought plane tickets for her family of four three months ago after making detailed plans for the trip from Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh to celebrate Tet, Ms. Hong Ngoc, 40 years old, in Phu Nhuan district, was surprised when the airline continuously announced changes in flight times over the past few days.

The Vietnam Airlines flight that Ms. Ngoc booked was originally scheduled to depart from Tan Son Nhat at 7:20 p.m. on December 28 (February 7), arriving in Vinh after about 1 hour and 30 minutes. However, she received notice from the airline that the schedule would be rescheduled earlier, to 2 p.m. the same day, due to "operational reasons."

"I still had a lot of work to do in the afternoon, so I was planning to reschedule my flight in time, but the airline announced that the departure time would be adjusted to 2:15 a.m. on the 29th of Tet," Ngoc said, wondering if this would be the last time the flight would be changed.

Passengers wait to check in at Tan Son Nhat airport. Photo: Gia Minh

However, with the above schedule, she said the whole family will have a hard time because on the eve of Tet, Tan Son Nhat is crowded, so they have to be there early from nearly midnight to check in and wait for the flight. If everything goes smoothly, they will arrive in Vinh City at around 3:30, then take a car home. The two children, one of whom is under 3 years old, will be even more tired because of the late flight.

"My family's Tet holiday is short, so I have to carefully calculate my travel schedule in advance before booking tickets. Therefore, the flight schedule keeps changing, causing all plans to change accordingly," Ms. Ngoc added.

Similarly, Ms. Nguyen Thu, 38 years old, booked a VietJet Air flight for her and her husband from Ho Chi Minh City to Thanh Hoa on December 26 (February 5) and just received information that the departure schedule was delayed by 5 hours. The flight was delayed to 9:35 p.m., instead of 4:30 p.m. the same day as originally scheduled, causing the family's plans to be disrupted because they had asked the company to let them off early.

"After finishing work in the morning, I planned to pack my bags and go to the airport to return home in the early afternoon. The flight was delayed so when I arrived in Thanh Hoa it would be late at night. It would be very difficult because I still had to catch a bus home, so I planned to rent a hotel to stay temporarily," she said, adding that although she was quite upset, she had to accept it because she knew that every time she returned home during Tet, it would be difficult.

Not only during the upcoming Tet holiday, some passengers have also complained that many flights have been delayed recently, even though it is not yet the peak travel season. Kim Anh, 26, said that on January 10, she booked a ticket with VietJet from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, but received two emails changing the departure time. The original schedule was for the plane to leave Tan Son Nhat at 9 p.m., then it was delayed until nearly 11 p.m., also due to "operational reasons". Although the airline sent a notice in advance, she said that she only received the information when she arrived at the airport, so she had to wait, and was also worried because she was worried that the schedule would continue to change.

The owner of a ticket agency in Ho Chi Minh City also said that he has recently received many reports of flight schedule changes and delays, and has to regularly update customers to monitor and get information from the airline. According to him, the situation of flights changing departure times usually only occurs during peak Tet days when the intensity of operations increases, airlines add more aircraft, and have to reschedule. However, the adjustment of departure times is usually only a few hours, and there are few cases of changing from the previous day to the next day as some passengers have recently reported.

Meanwhile, an airline representative said that airlines will not sell tickets for flights that have not been allocated slots (takeoffs and landings), so there will certainly be no sudden cancellations. However, during the peak travel season during Tet, after increasing the number of flights, some flights may have to be adjusted to the new slots, so the time will change. When there are adjustments, the airline will notify customers, hoping for understanding due to the high intensity of operations.

Passenger plane at Tan Son Nhat airport. Photo: Quynh Tran

In addition, another reason for flight schedule changes is that the airline depends on the schedule for recalling and checking aircraft engines. This inspection schedule is given by the engine manufacturer, the airline must follow it, leading to passivity and the need to rearrange the schedule. Especially, during the peak travel season during Tet with very dense flights, when an aircraft is checked for engine, the airline will arrange and add another aircraft to replace it to meet travel demand. But this still affects the chain of operations.

According to the representative of the Civil Aviation Authority, airlines usually sell tickets 3-4 months before departure and have to rearrange schedules due to the increase in aircraft, so there are changes in departure schedules. Not only during Tet, there are also situations of rearranging flight schedules during the operation of airlines on normal days. According to regulations, airlines are responsible for informing customers in advance about changes in flight times.

The Civil Aviation Authority said that so far, it has not received any complaints from passengers about the widespread flight changes during Tet by domestic airlines. However, if many passengers complain, the Authority will work with the airlines to examine the cause and come up with a solution.

Previously, according to the Civil Aviation Authority's report, the on-time flight rate in the first 11 months of 2023 reached 84.9%, down from the average of the same period in 2022. Of which, Bamboo Airways had the highest rate of over 92%. Other airlines such as Vietnam Airlines, VietJet Air, and Pacific Airline recorded on-time flight rates of 87%, 79%, and 84%, respectively.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority, during the peak of the Lunar New Year this year, the number of flights and passengers increased compared to last year, especially at Tan Son Nhat. This airport was approved to increase slots (takeoffs and landings) to meet travel demand. Accordingly, the airport increased the number of slots per hour from 44 to 46 during the day, and the number of slots per hour at night increased from 40 to 42, applied from February 1 to February 21 (December 22 to January 12). This is a record high in many years.

Gia Minh - Doan Loan

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