Connecting flight rules

Upvote:1

Non of the cities you mention is known as one of the rare ones where planes usually wait for late arrivals.

Most airlines have responsibilities for the other passengers, already on their plane, and those waiting for the plane to arrive so they can leave on time.
A few minutes wait for passengers is sometimes possible but on the other hand, sometimes a one minute late push off from the building can result in missing its spot in the take off line and having to wait for an other spot, which can be an hour or more later, resulting in a later arrival where it may have to wait extra long to land, as other planes which are on time have more rights.

Waiting more than a few minutes is very unlikely, only a last flight of the day to an airport which will allow the plane to come in after its usual arrival time and then only when there are many passengers in that incoming plane that need to make the same connection, which is not common.

Upvote:3

In general the answer is "no". But it depends a lot on the circumstances, details and the mood and attitude of the agents involved.

  1. Airlines tend to run a pretty tight schedule and keep the planes in the air as much as possible, there isn't a lot of slack.
  2. There is more slack if the plane goes towards and airline hub. There are typically cleaning and maintenance cycles build into the schedule
  3. Airlines may get fined for delays above a certain point.
  4. Holding a flight may mean missed connections for new passengers, which creates a more hassle and headache.
  5. You may get some slack if you have checked baggage. If your bags made it but you don't, the airline either needs to wait or unload your bags.
  6. Status and class of service may help too: if you are high enough up the food chain, you may get an escort to your connection and the escort can communicate with the gate agent.
  7. It varies a lot from airline to airline and also sometimes from one gate agent to the next. Some variability based on airline policies and enforcement, other just on personal preference.

So it's impossible to predict and you really can't rely on it. I have certainly seen some horrible cases where just two minutes more would have saved both the airline and the passengers a lot of money, time and inconvenience.

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