If 80% of scheduled flights actually take place and cancellations are independent events, what is the probability that 3 separate flights will take place?

We are given that 80% of scheduled flights really take place, therefore this means that:

Probability of flying = 80% = 0.80

Now in statistics class, we know that the probability of two or more independent events to occur is simply equivalent to the product of their probabilities, or mathematically written as: (P = Probability)

total P = P1 * P2 * P3 * ...

In this case, since we are to find for the probability that 3 independent flights will occur, therefore the total probability assuming equal probabilities to fly is:

total probability = 0.80 * 0.80 * 0.80

total probability = 0.512

or

total probability = 51.20%

This means that there is only a 51.20% chance for 3 flights to occur.