Editing & Canceling Reservations

Overview

Plans change. Weather deteriorates, work calls, or a trip gets rescheduled. Centerline makes it easy to update or cancel your reservations when that happens — and doing so promptly is one of the most important contributions you can make to your club's culture. A canceled reservation isn't a failure; it's a courtesy to every other member waiting for that slot. And because of how Centerline's backup reservation system works, your cancellation can directly and automatically unlock the aircraft for someone else who has been waiting in line.

Editing a Reservation

If your plans shift but you still intend to fly, edit your reservation rather than canceling and rebooking. This preserves your spot while adjusting the details.

1. Open the calendar — Navigate to Reserve in the nav bar.
2. Click on your reservation — Find the event on the calendar and click it to open the detail panel.
3. Click Edit — The edit form opens, pre-filled with your current reservation details.
4. Make your changes — You can update:
   • Start and end times
   • Destination
   • Comments
   • Instructor (if your club has instructors configured)
   • The "Share with others" toggle for social visibility
5. Click Save Changes — Your reservation is updated immediately and the calendar refreshes for all members.

When you change the times of a reservation, Centerline re-checks for conflicts. If your new time window overlaps with something it didn't before, your reservation may be reclassified as a backup. Conversely, if you shorten your reservation to eliminate an overlap, any backup reservations in the freed window may be automatically promoted.

Canceling a Reservation

1. Open the calendar — Navigate to Reserve.
2. Click on your reservation — Find and click the event you want to cancel.
3. Click Cancel Reservation — A confirmation dialog appears.
4. Optionally add a reason — You can briefly explain why you're canceling. This is optional, but it's good practice — other members may be curious why a popular slot opened up unexpectedly, and booking administrators appreciate the context.
5. Confirm the cancellation — The reservation is removed from the calendar.

What Happens When You Cancel: The Backup Promotion Chain

This is the part that makes canceling thoughtfully so important. When you cancel an active (confirmed) reservation, Centerline doesn't simply delete it and leave the slot open. Instead, it immediately checks whether any backup reservations exist for that aircraft during that time window.

If backups are found, the system evaluates each one in chronological order — the earliest backup request goes first. For each backup, it checks whether it now has a clear path (no remaining conflicts). If so, that backup is automatically promoted to a confirmed reservation, and its holder is notified right away.

This means your cancellation can set off a chain reaction: one cancellation promotes one backup, which might free up a different slot, which promotes another backup, and so on. The system handles all of this automatically, without anyone needing to manually manage a waitlist. The practical result is that time you're not using gets into the hands of someone who wants it — quickly, fairly, and without coordination overhead.

Restrictions

You can edit or cancel:

• Your own reservations — at any time, with no special permissions required.
• Any member's reservation — if you hold the Booking role or are an Account Owner. This is useful for club administrators managing the schedule on behalf of members.

Tips

• Cancel as early as you can — The sooner you cancel, the more time backup holders have to prepare for their promoted flight. A cancellation the morning of a reservation is better than nothing, but a cancellation two days ahead is far more valuable to the member waiting in the backup queue.
• Use the reason field — Even a short note ("weather," "work conflict," "mechanical concern") gives your club useful context and saves administrators from having to reach out to find out what happened.
• Edit, don't cancel and rebook — If you're just shifting your time by an hour or two, edit the existing reservation. Canceling and rebooking can briefly free the slot for someone else to grab, which may not be your intention.
• Admins can cancel for you — If you're unable to access Centerline to cancel a reservation (you're already at the airport, your phone died, etc.), a booking administrator can cancel on your behalf.