I dropped ds18 off at the airport in Austin for the first leg of his trip to China, a non-stop United flight to Newark. I checked flight aware before we left the house and saw that the plane he would be taking had arrived 28 minutes early. He’s still waiting to board, it should have departed about 10 minutes ago and is now being told it will depart an hour and 18 minutes late due to “air traffic control delays” the weather here is clear, he’s not waiting for his plane to arrive, what does air traffic control delay mean?
Never mind - I figured it out, the delay isn’t air traffic here it’s in Newark! They have winds that are causing delays and air traffic control has told planes arriving there not to depart yet.
Wind always creates delays in Newark
Right. When planes at one airport are delayed, it has a trickle-down effect on other airports. Some planes can be held in the air circling for several minutes before being cleared for landing because there isn’t enough runway space for them to land safely. Other planes can sit on the runway for several minutes waiting to be cleared for takeoff. At other airports, planes can be delayed from taking off if they’re scheduled to land at an airport that is experiencing significant air traffic delays. Even if your son’s plane is there and ready to be boarded, sometimes they’ll delay boarding rather than have people sit on the plane for an hour. These are all deemed “air traffic control delays.”
Sucks, but waiting in the terminal beats waiting in the plane on the ground by a factor of 100x.
If the flight will be 1:18 late to Newark, will he make his next flight to wherever in China, or will he be stuck in Newark for many hours or days until there is space on another flight?
@ucbalumnus he’s actually in Newark for two days befor he continues on to China so no worries there! He’s has a pre-departure orientation for the NSLI-Y program in Newark. I sent email to the program letting them know he’ll be arriving late. Since the problem is in Newark I’m sure there will be other kids arriving late too. If he had a connecting flight today I’d be pulling my hair out!
I hope he has a safe and exciting trip, @3scoutsmom!
Looking at it, the winds haven’t been that significant, right down the runway (22). But Newark just seems to have ATC delays for any reason. I think they are probably scheduling too many airplanes to arrive and depart around the same time, and they can’t handle the load. Much better to get delayed on the ground, though. Newark kind of stinks, as far as delays go, so I always get extra fuel going in there.
Don’t most airports schedule for optimal conditions that only occur a small percentage of the time, so that they are very vulnerable if there is any problem that reduces capacity?
^^Probably, but some airports seem to handle it far worse than others. Being in the NE corridor, with other airports all around and packed airspace certainly can’t help.
I’m sitting here 30 miles from Newark airport and the weather is perfect. I haven’t noticed any wind at all but it is very typical to face delays in Newark, probably too much traffic in the area. Glad your son isn’t in a time crunch.
I’m ten miles away. Perfect weather. The skies around here are always full of planes, though. It’s amazing they ever get them all scheduled in. Last night I was at the U2 concert at Metlife Stadium which is just north of Newark Airport and also near Teterboro. Constant air traffic over our heads all evening. Sometimes several planes in clear view at once. A little unnerving at times!
Flightaware says his flight has landed and is taxing to the gate, an hour and 11 minutes late not too far off from when then predicted.
garland, you were at the U2 concert? Jealous! I heard the traffic was unbelievable.
^Getting out of the parking lot took forever, but then that’s often true there. Once out, we got home really fast.
And the concert was amazing. Sound was great, and hearing songs like “Red Hill Mining Town” that have never been played was so fantastic. Loved every minute of it.