If paying close attention to airline MO for flights and flight changes, it appears they are continually running their schedules through an algorithm (now called AI) to maximize profit, no matter the disruption to the individual traveler. They have been doing this for a few years. They all do it. Qatar did it to my flights this year. Qatar eliminated a flight I had purchased tickets for. That caused an itinerary change of two days. I had to rebook hotels, transportation and connecting flights after the chain reaction— a real time consuming PITA for me and others involved. So much for those kissing the ass of Qatar Air. And to spread the criticism around in the spirit of fairness, Alaska Air has been one of the worst US carriers for continually jacking around flights and causing travel headaches. Although not commonly used by many here, in my experience Philippine Air and their customer reps have been very helpful in sorting through connection issues.
The only way to plan airline travel and stay sane today is to pre-plan and have alternative B or even C plans ready to go to accommodate cancelled flights or changed flight times. Avoid booking connecting flights between non-affiliated airlines… stay with those with alliance reciprocity for any multi-airline, multi-stop trip. Good luck and as Bugs says, “Bon voyagee!”
