"Late update penalty" on a slot

[jumpseater]

As I recall it there isn't a "late update penalty", though if you are delaying your plan close to P time regardless of if you have a slot or not, you known/reffered to as a 'late updater', i.e. what it says on the tin. This is why on a visit to CFMU the slot guys/girls who oversee the computerised system, always suggest delay as early as practical, i.e. if you know you're going to miss that slot, delay your P time to an accurate one asap. That delays updates within CFMU computer systems and puts you right at the back of any queue,(you are the last one to update your P time), so you can receive an initial significant CTOT delay. This can then come forward quickly as per SN's last para.

Having worked in LoCo ops flight planning this was very common particularly on busy airports/routes like Spanish resorts and busy city routes. The CFMU computer is constantly revising CTOT's as people delay, re-route, restrictions change, eg another sector is opened/closed. Once the 'delay' was sent then a 'ready' message would be sent in quick succession, to enable the automated CFMU to automatically process your ready message to get an improvement if available. If there is availability then the improvement can be rapid, and can sometimes return a CTOT only a matter of minutes from the one you've rejected, which also is of no use to you. This is why its best practise to delay early, i.e. when you know its going pear shaped enough to miss a P/CTOT time, and accurately so you don't get a revised P/CTOT time that's too early.

I wouldn't file a complaint, In my experience it sounds like a 'terminology' thing, and sounds SOP. We referred to 'late' flight plan delays as a 'late update'. If you are a late updater you go to the back of the queue automatically, so the CFMU software can re-shuffle you in the pack within the existing restrictions. That's without looking at other factors such as change of route or flight levels. The late update just reflects what's on your existing plog in terms of route/FL's.