I had a coworker come up to me this morning with a tale of woe that turned out to be an intriguing story. He was flying on American Airlines from Florence South Carolina (FLO) to Cincinnati (CVG), connecting in Charlotte (map courtesy of gcmap.com)
He had a tight connection in Charlotte and ended up missing his flight. He was angry with American, though as any set of good coworkers would do, we blamed him instead!
How to miss your flight
I’ve written before about 3 things you should do if you DON’T want to miss your flight, but unfortunately my coworker seemed to follow a few of the rules you should do if you DO want to miss your flight 🙂
- Despite a pretty tight connection, he was not in a super hurry to get to his connecting gate
- He had his headphones on walking through the airport, so he didn’t hear any announcement over the intercom
He didn’t realize that the departure time was the actual pushback / takeoff time and that the doors / gate closed (at least!) 10 minutes before that.
(SEE ALSO: Why I just sprinted through the airport for the first time)
Violating the Minimum Connection Time (MCT)
Since I’m a skeptical kind of guy, I looked up his flight on Flightaware, and saw that his two flights landed and departed 29 minutes apart (arrived 3:29, departed 3:58). His flight from Florence WAS late but they also held the departing flight to Cincinnati by 8 minutes (ironically, probably literally waiting for him 😀 )
Then, looking it up on Google Flights, I saw that American sells a ticket with only a TWENTY FIVE MINUTE connection time
I know he has only (mostly?) himself to blame and probably has no recourse from the airline (this isn’t Europe and EU261 people!) but I was still surprised that American would sell a flight with such a short connection. According to Flyertalk, the minimum allowed connection time for domestic connections at Charlotte is 40 minutes. (EDIT: A few commenters have mentioned in the comments that between certain flights the MCT is 25 minutes, which makes this a legal (though INCREDIBLY tight!) connection)
In any case, let this be a lesson to you – if you have a tight connection, hustle to your connecting gate!
Has anyone ever been booked on a flight through CLT with such a short minimum connection time (MCT)?
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Incorrct…MCT for many express to express and express to mainline flights at CLT is 25 minutes.
While 40 minutes is the standard interline MCT at CLT, AA has various MCTs in CLT, depending on the flight number (presumably certain flights are closer to each other). Expertflyer indicates he lowest MCT is 25 minutes, for connecting between domestic flights numbered 2815-6099:
AA-AA DD .25 FLT 2815 – 6099 – FLT 2815 – 6099
Thanks guys for letting me know. 25 minutes seems AWFUL tight for a connection though!
CLT basically has a regional concourse (almost terminal) which is maybe a 15 minute walk from the rest of the airport. 25 min would definitely be way too short going Eagle to mainline, but Eagle to Eagle I’d say it’s reasonable assuming everything is on time.
Currently, everything but the “Edit” is factually incorrect, including the title; perhaps you should update the whole post. Did you do any research before posting?
Easy tiger…I enjoyed reading this post. As someone who can’t walk and would need assistance, this was an interesting and informative article.
I look at it this way. If they can get a checked piece of luggage off the plane and onto another, I can get from one gate to another in that time.
I fly this very connection regularly, Florence to CLT, and the connections are often 25 minutes. I have learned the tighter the connection, the more likely the connecting flight will take off on time The one hint I have for these regional flights with tight connection is to check your bag (against usual advice) . These planes have no overhead space so you have to wait for your carry-on to be unloaded which will eat into your run to connecting gate time.
Agree on blaming your coworker for this one unfortunately. 25 minutes (15 really) is just enough time for an Eagle to Eagle connection at CLT if everything is on time.
I’ve made Eagle connections at PHL from F to C in less than 5 min when the connecting flight was closing – but I was running to catch that flight!
Yes we have had lots of fun blaming him all week 😉
I had a similar connection once in Long Beach on AA. It’s a tiny airport and I still missed my flight with a “25” minute connection. My son and I were seated near the back of the plane and the gate was closed even though we ran. Ten or 15 minutes is not enough time to deplane and make your boarding unless, say, you’re seated in the front and your arriving flight is on time.
The good news on that trip is we had only carry-ons and also my son is homeschooled. AMEX Platinum paid for transport to The Disneyland Resort, a night at the Grand Californian, and most of our meals. The Disney tickets I gladly paid for. 🙂
Is there a list of airports and their corresponding MCT’s?
I did search for such a list (earlier commenters calling me a “horrible blogger” who “does no research” notwithstanding 😀 ). The only thing I found was the 40 minute thing on Flyertalk. I believe earlier commenters have mentioned these being available in ExpertFlyer (a paid tool) but I’m not sure if it’s available anywhere else