Time between filing and flying

Do large airports even have a dedicated CD guy anymore??
Most (all?) airliners I know of have the clearance printed out via PDC.
What about 135 operators? Lots of those at Hobby too. If I remember correctly it was a dedicated person.
 
Do large airports even have a dedicated CD guy anymore??
Most (all?) airliners I know of have the clearance printed out via PDC.
Not exactly sure what you’re asking but I think they do, although the term may be debatable. Some still have a CD frequency but it could be the same person doing Clearance, Ground, and Tower at the same time on three frequencies (as happened recently to me at KONT). At a TRACON, or even for Center, the phone number that has been posted in the AF/D in recent years connects you with someone who does the clearances and releases. (Listing that phone number has been a HUGE improvement in the process, IMHO).

Is there a dedicated frequency/phone/person to get a clearance? My experience has been yes. Is there someone whose sole job is delivering clearances? Less so but that doesn’t functionally matter, IMHO.
 
I always file with FF. I was at Fort Lauderdale International Airport for a month a year and a half ago. I filed, I got delayed with a mechanical issue, got it fixed, got my clearance, taxied to the runway, was number one, when the tower told me I needed to refile and get my clearance again. So I refiled with FF, immediately got my clearance from clearance, called up tower, waited 2 minutes for a 320 to land, and was out of there. The whole sequence took less than five minutes.
 
For me, flying X country involves planning at home on F Flight, so I always file before I leave for the airport; usually the night before.

I know the estimated time of take off has been missed a portion of the flights, but I've never been asked to re file.

If I see it's going to be an obvious hour or so delay, I will file an amended plan with the new ETD.

Side note: Got my Instrument Rating January 2022. I've always filed via Fore Flight, and I know I can probably also file via I-Fly. I'm sure I can also figure out how to file on the web. If you asked me how people did it before FFlight, I have to admit I have no idea.
 
I know the estimated time of take off has been missed a portion of the flights, but I've never been asked to re file.
Your flight plan doesn't "time out" until 2 hours after your ETD.
If you asked me how people did it before FFlight, I have to admit I have no idea.
:D

Depends how early you are talking about. Filing through Flight Service has been an option for a long time. Walk-in when there were actually offices all over, telephone. In the early 1990s(?), along came DUAT, where you could connect with FSS via a modem (I think mine was 9600 baud when I began using it) and do things like get briefings, file flight plans, and even generate a NAV log (I did that for my IFR checkride cross country scenario in 1992). DUAT was terminated in 2018. FSS by phone, online with Leidos (www.1800wxbrief.com) still remain, and some EFB apps do their filing via Leidos.

Then, other forms of online flight plan filing came along (FltPlan.com was a favorite for Part 91 corporate and non-dispatcher Part 135). And then along came the EFB...
 
You say that as if the estimated departure time needs to be accurate within a minute or two. I think it doesn't.
It doesn't. Estimated departure is only really for the strip to print/close things out.

The release is the based on when you are ready to take off and has tighter time limits.
 
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