Tweed Airport and Summer time delays.

Ladies and Gentlemen, flight 491 is delayed. But why?

I’ve heard many an airline passenger bemoan, “Patrick says the weather is good in Indianapolis! Why are we delayed? You’re not telling us the truth”. Ok Passenger Mrs. Jean, here’s how it works.

Unbeknownst to your close friends Uncle Ken and Patrick, there’s about 400 miles of airspace between here and there. Unless Ken and Patrick went out in the BMW to survey all that real estate between here and there, there are probably a few thunderstorms boiling up in the afternoon heat.

Thunderstorms block airspace. Set the pace!

Airplanes are routed along Airways. Airways are like roads. For example, airplanes going to certain airports and certain geographic locations are routed on predetermined pathways. This is to establish order to the flow of traffic. Air Traffic is specifically ordered onto to specific airways to not just specific airports but to specific geographic regions. So, like a road, airways often are associated with specific airports. Often, Air Traffic Control (ATC) does not “allow” use of other airways to airports. Rigid for sure…but that’s how it goes. In a way, there are only a handful of predetermined routes to your destination.

Slow down! On purpose.
Excluding weather (which we’ll talk about in a minute) ATC will often institute “volume delays” to an airport. This is when controllers purposely adjust the flow of airplanes to an airport. They do this by instituting “ground delays”…keep you on the ground…and then setting a variable distance between one airplane and another. Some days this distance can be 5 miles, others 20 miles. The reasons for this variability has to do with numerous technical issues beyond the scope of this article. But nonetheless, this is real fact.

An analogy to this ground delay situation would be State Police “metering” cars on to Interstate 95 in order to avoid congestion. That’s what air traffic controllers do to airplanes. At any given time, and for a number of reasons, to include Thunderstorm avoidance (see below) Air Traffic Controllers relax or restrict this “in-trail” spacing so as to avoid congestion. Obviously congestion in the sky is to be avoided. When you add thunderstorms this issue is only multiplied.

When Thunderstorms are thrown into the environmental matrix of the air traffic control system, the flexibility of the airway structure is severely limited. Pilots navigate their aircraft around thunderstorms like car drivers drive around potholes. When one aircraft deviates off the airway in order to avoid weather, they often go onto or near another airway or someone else’s airspace.

When the above situation happens, the controller has to move other aircraft on to other airways…or out of the way! Also, the airplane behind the deviating aircraft is often asked to slow down (or delay vectored) in order to not “bunch up” on the preceding airplane. Before you know it…a big mess in the skies! The ripple effect on flight schedules and timeliness is something to behold! Air Traffic Control institutes ground and other kinds of delays to avoid chaos in the skies. They institute these “delay programs” in order to preserve the integrity and safety of airspace. Next time you’re delayed, you might be grateful.

One lane road ahead!
Thunderstorms lead to the “closure” of airways just like closing down an entire road or two lanes on a three lane Highway. When pilots start avoiding sections of airspace because of storms, Air Traffic Controllers start to shut the airways down because efficient use of airspace is about to go down the drain! Until the weather clears, the airways will remain unusable and delays will ensue.

When thunderstorms develop, they often consume vast amounts of airspace. In this regard, airways and arrival patterns for one airport could be completely blocked by storms while another airport and its related airspace is free and clear. Ever see what happens when you have one door to a huge sports arena closed and another one opened? Everyone goes for it! And so to do airplanes. Aircraft bound for one destination start using airspace designated for another. Air Traffic Control is there to keep that door working as smoothly as possible…but it will take time…and sometimes they have to use an exit as an entrance. That’s what weather delays and thunderstorms are all about.

A flawed plan?
Tweed-New Haven Airport is like any other airport when it comes to Summer weather delays. Airlines endure schedule havoc almost every day all Summer long. This is the simple reality of flying. Now that Tweed-New Haven Airport actually has air service, you are seeing how airlines and airports operate…more so anyway than in recent memory. This means late and late night flights are going to happen. As a Pilot, I understand that as residents living near an airport, the last thing you want to hear is a plane at 1 am. My explanation for delays in this article is not meant to make “things better”. It is meant to help you understand the reasons behind delays.

It isn’t what the Hawk says!

The reality of flight delays does not make passenger air service at Tweed “flawed” , unique or any worse than using another airport like the rabble rouser “10,000 Hawks” proclaim. It makes us part of the real world of the airport and airspace system. If you go to other airports, you are guaranteed to face the very same issues. I promise. The myopic view of the “10,000 Hawks” on Tweed-New Haven Airport and delays is laughable.

You’re my passenger. Welcome onboard.

As a Pilot, I am always willing to explain numerous facets to the flight I am operating to passengers . In my 21 years of flying airline, I’ve definitely heard an errant comment or two as to why we are delayed and I in turn offered a real, true and technical reason for the delay. In a way, I see the community around Tweed as passengers and am therefore here to explain. In my opinion, better me than a Hawk. But that’s for you to decide.

In my time “tuning in” to the banter brought about by the “10,000 Hawks” anti-airport protesters, I’ve heard nothing but a complete lack of understanding of airports, airplanes and air traffic control.

The above explanation is a very simplified version of the air traffic system and its intricate relationship with weather. If you want more explanations and actual updates in real time on delays, go to www.FAA.gov.

As a Pilot, I am mildly entertained by the errant ramblings of the anti-airport group “10,000 Hawks”. I see their views ,and to no less a degree, their antics, as skewed nonsense in order to portray a very specific set of ideas. Fine, go for your agenda! But do it with real data, not here-say and half-witted statements.

The Hawks’ tactics and strategies to “educate” the public are nothing short of “mental pollution”. Ironic. If you want actual answers to what goes on at an airport, ask the right people. The Hawks are not the right people. When you have your answers, then you decide how you see Tweed in the grand scheme of things.

Final Approach
My goal in writing you is to help you understand that the reasons for delays at Tweed are very normal, routine and nothing exceptional in the grand scheme of airports and airlines. As neighbors and citizens of the area around Tweed, you certainly deserve a better and real understanding of how your airport operates. I know from first hand experience as an industry “insider” that our world can be very mysterious. I hope my explanations remove some of that mystery.

Hopefully, hearing an explanation from someone who has thousands of hours flying jets at an airline and corporate aviation outfit will bare some weight on your understanding of issues related to Tweed.

Someone who educates themselves via the internet and then “educates” the rest of us before they actually learn something (and become credentialed) themselves is a dangerous entity. Can you say Hawk? The Hawks represent a dangerous, underlying social phenomenon that has recently taken hold. I’m here to just talk airplanes.

In closing, I will say that my explanations about a myriad of airport issues may not improve your life living around an airport. You may still be opposed to recent developments at Tweed. In that regard, changing your stance and your harmony with Tweed is not my purpose. My purpose is to simply provide you with real and pertinent explanations behind things airports and airplanes. You’re more than welcome to your opinion based on what I’ve told you this far. As a Pilot, I want you to know about what goes on over your head. My contributions to the Tweed discussion are that effort. You could listen to a Hawk or you could listen to someone who actually has been up there.