Slot cancellation after pushback?

[Eutychus]

As is my wont, I was tracking the inbound leg of the flight I was waiting for on FlightRadar. On the app, I saw it line up for takeoff; then appear to taxi quite some way down the runway before turning back and sitting away from a gate before having another go about 40 minutes later.

The official explanation given by the crew on our departing flight to explain the late inbound arrival was an ATC issue. I was surprised the aircraft could apparently make its way to the front of the queue before that cropped up, and even more surprised it appeared to have trundled along the main runway some way before taxiing back. Is this a plausible explanation, or was I looking at a rejected takeoff?

[wiggy]

Sounds plausible (but rare)...and if you get lined up and then if you don't or can't go for any reason then the only way off may well be to trundle along the main runway until you find a convenient exit.

[terrain safe]

If the aircraft is at the holding point and it becomes flight suspended (basically it's not airborne within 35 minutes of the pushback time) or the slot changes, then there is nothing that ATC can do but taxy the aircraft onto the runway and then vacate at a convenient point. Very annoying all round but it happens. Especially as you lose a departure at the very least.

[S.o.S.]

That was a most interesting question and very helpful answers. I have not heard of that happening. A key factor is probably which airport the departure was from and how busy the airway to destination. Could you let us know Eutychus?

[redsnail]

It could be a missed CTOT. Calculated Take Off Time. Often called "slots".

When the airways are busy, CTOTs are issued. You have -5 minutes and +10 minutes to depart. Eg, if your CTOT is 09:55z, you can depart at 09:50 to 10:05z. Any later, and good luck. You might get away but usually it's "you're too late, you'll need to refile/get another CTOT". If you're lucky, the new CTOT will be within 5, 10 minutes so that's ok. If not, then you'll probably go back to the gate or remote parking and rethink your fuel plan/duty limits.

An airport slot is often a lot stricter. Some give you ±30 minutes, others (like LEPA), 0 tolerance.. (I hope they've improved that!).
Then there's A-CDM airports. Airport Collaborative Decision Making. Another way to drive us mad. You chat with your handling agent as to when you'll be ready to push/taxi and they sort that out with the airport... It's supposed to be more efficient. If you miss that, then you'll need to chat to the Handling agent, and this assumes your flight plan is still current.

The US has a completely different system....

[Eutychus]

Thanks for the answers!
The incident happened at Manchester airport on a flight bound to France (where I was waiting). It was this time last week, on a day when ATC was a little bit disrupted over France due to industrial action, but this was not mentioned as a cause. Once off the taxiway, according to FlightRadar the aircraft appeared to stop east of the terminal buildings pointing north before apparently being pushed back again.