Baraka_Guru

I think it might have to do with the sheer volume of information. I know in the case of Toronto-Pearson, they move on average more than 40 planes an hour. What you get is a relay of data from individual planes, to air traffic control, to terminal and back, and ultimately to passengers when things are confirmed. I imagine that with the back and forth and confirming of information that you get situations where things are announced last-minute.

I'm not an apologist for companies with lousy customer service, but I do understand if passengers aren't told their plane is going to be late—or gates switched, or whatever—until 5 or 10 minutes before the original boarding time. I get that.

My SO used to work for customs. With international flights, you get that added layer of communications between the captain and the authorities in the terminal. So add that to the mix in these cases.

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot