I have only taken EasyJet once before. Had flights canceled by Vueling and ( now gone)
Spanair in the past.>>

I've used easyjet loads of times and never had them cancel a flight and they are usually on time.

I'm sure you can find their punctuality record on the net.

I'd go with Easyjet.

I have used Easyjet once and Vueling twice, none of my flights were cancelled, I wouldn't dismiss an airline completely just because once it cancelled a flight.. every airline does that once in awhile.

I agree with you that if the train if more then 5 hours then flying can be faster and cheaper.

I think Easyjet is a well run airline and unlikely to cancel, my favorite European low fare carrier. However, if a sure thing is what you want then the train is probably the closest thing to it. When I have a choice I take the train.

It is hard to predict weather and technical difficulties. Just be sure to "protect" your other reservations with plenty of time for the unfortunate mishap.. which seems to happen when we least expect it.

thanks for you responses
glad to hear it.

your responses

Easyjet : No
Ryanair : Yes

I really like Easyjet, always have for years.

thanks again

I think this is more of a risk management issue.

Before that, it helps to look beyond anecdotal evidences. If you look at one of many industry analysis such as flightstats, you will find that Easyjet raw cancel record is very good.

According to:
http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightRating/flightRatingByCarrier.do?airline=%28U2%29+easyJet

Easyjet's cancel rate during the 2 months period on their top markets was < 0.1%.
Comparative figures for Delta, according to this site, was ~1%, and United was ~2% of course with caveat that these airlines serve different markets with different operational challenges.

Nevertheless, the Easyjet figure is not zero. Which means while many people, as noted above, never experienced cancellations, there were others not so fortunate. Statistically, the odd of happening to you is very very low. But if it happens, what is your back up plan? Is it ok to pay the change fee plus the difference between your ticket and the last minutes ticket plus possible lodging cost presuming that "statistically" you will unlikely to have to repeat this again in the future?

I would hope that NO airline has a HABIT of cancelling flights.

That would be kind of a funny way to run an airline, to make it a habit of cancelling flights.

The only situation where I think that sometimes happens is when an airline is in big financial trouble and maybe isn't keeping their fleet up or doesn't have enough planes, and then they start doing stuff like that just before they go bankrupt or disappear. So then if one plane has mechanical problems, they have no substitution, things like that. I think American starting cancelling a lot of flights (although they are still operating) having something to do with their bankruptcy, but I think that wasn't at the last minute, it was in advance they starting cancelling a lot of runs to pare down how many they had. So you could have your ticket or route changed if you had bought a ticket far in advance, but they weren't doing it at the airport, of course.

I flew from Manchester (uk) to Charleston (sc) in October. We initially booked with US airways, I was warned on here about their customer service. I booked the tickets 7 months in advance, they held 100% of my hard earned cash for 7 months.

2 weeks before departure they cancelled the flight. I was refunded and due to a lack of demand managed to rebook tickets with United for £300 less.

Strange business, the airline business. Take 100% payment up front for an intangible service, cancel just before provision of the service with no apology or explanation and expect that customer to come back ?

Some of the major airlines do have a habit of cancelling flights if the number of booked passengers is far too low to make the run profitable. It's quite common.

EasyJet has targeted some popular airports and popular routes and lures customers with attractive prices, so that does help reduce the chances of being canceled.

But I agree with others that you can't be sure any flight is going to take off until it takes off. If there would be truly serious and/or expensive consequences of you not reaching your destination by a certain point in time, you need a Plan B.

I agree about the increase cancelled flights, it is very diffclt to prove as the stats are clouded by the vague excuses which they come up with to cover up the true reason for the action. It would probably take an airline whistle blower to produce the truth.

The situation has been made worse with the whole model of partnerships and hubs. Our problem was caused by our connecting flight being cancelled, not our main flight. The weather in Britain causes huge problems with the hub system and Heathrow. At the slightest bot of snow Heathrow cancel all their shuttle flights but keep the land haul flights going. This means passengers flying from provincial airports into Heathrow to pick up a long haul flight are stuck at their home airport, unable to get to their main flight. Many I know will not use BA because of this.

There are also rumours around that apartment rental sites do the same. Take huge amounts up front for apartments that they know they cannot fulfil the agreement. They just sit on the cash and refund at the last minute.

The long and short of it is that we live in Scotland, half of Europe isn't that far a drive away...... I don't know whether we can be bothered with air travel anymore.

Interesting input.
I had a flight canceled on Air Canada ..and Delta -
rather big companies !
"...a funny way to run an airline, to make it a habit.."
Perhaps HABIT was not the appropriate word; how about : an occasional occurrence
that screws up your plans and causes unexpected stress and expense?

But you didn't ask about an occasional occurrence at all, which is an entirely different question. You asked if they had a habit of doing it. I would imagine any airline had had an occasional occurrence of having to cancel a flight, and sometimes it doesn't have anything to do with them, but with the weather or other issues. I think anyone has had a flight cancelled at some time, and I don't think the size of the airline is the issue.

danon- no airline can guarantee not to cancel a flight due to force majeur, but overall, easyjet have a good reputation and no-one here is grumbling about them; on the contrary they get a generally positive press.

one common reason for delay is winter weather but given the time of year [mid summer] I think we can rule out snow and ice as a possible problem.

andd for that matter who can foresee whether the trains will be held up, or if there will be a major crash on a motorway?

if the plane is the best travel option, that would be the one I'd take in this case.

"Perhaps HABIT was not the appropriate word; how about : an occasional occurrence
that screws up your plans and causes unexpected stress and expense?"


"But you didn't ask about an occasional occurrence at all, which is an entirely different question.'

Sorry my attempt to be ironic missed the mark.

After 30 years of flying in various parts of the world I am well aware that no airline will GUARANTEE anything.
Some low cost airlines are more prone to canceling flights - if majority of the seats are not sold - some are not. I am glad to learn that EasyJet is not.
Thanks for everyone's input.

Some low cost airlines are more prone to canceling flights

Are they? I would say they are just as likely (or rather unlikely) to cancel flights as the "large" airlines. They also do schedule changes, route cancellations and such the same as "large" airlines

I, too, think the low fare airlines are less prone to cancellations they are not forced to make. Their reliability is also where the profit is. They need the aircraft at the next destination. You can see how they operate if you pay attention - fill it up, take off, land, empty & clean, fill it up again. As fast as it can be done, no lollygagging at the gate. Move 'em out!