Keeping this blog updated is hard work, but creating original content is the hardest part of any bloggers job. Points are easy, but I promised you more than points. It’s important to share some of my experience so others can learn and profit from it. Profit in terms of time spent home with your families, doing things for yourself, and enjoying life.
Thursday’s are a lottery game for me. If I pick the winning numbers, I get home. Otherwise I spend the night at an airport hotel.
There are several factors that influence your ability to get home – and a bad combination of these factors can cost you seeing your wife or tucking in your kids on that night. So, in no particular order, here are…
The Factors
- Weather
- Plane size
- Flight duration
- Flight departure time
- Airport congestion
WEATHER
Weather is the easy one. Bad weather can be anything from fog, wind, and thunderstorms. All of them are bad news and it doesn’t have to be related to your destination or departure city because the airport routes are an intricate series of pipes…just kidding – seriously though, they are very much tied to each other. Weather may be bad at an unrelated airport that has YOUR plane sitting on the runway, unable to take off to deliver passengers to your departure city. Bad weather means planes need to be re-routed, which creates bottlenecks within airspace. When you see “Due to Flow Control” – that’s airspace bottlenecks. That said, bad weather at your destination can stop your flight, cold. Bad weather in your departure city can spell doom if your plane isn’t sitting at the gate. Generally speaking, it’s easier for planes to take off in bad weather versus land in bad weather.
PLANE SIZE
Plane size is often overlooked as a factor, but it’s a big one. Small planes do not fly as well in bad weather. There is a threshold that prevents smaller planes from flying, but not larger ones. A Boeing 737 is a good sized plane. Small planes also mean less angry passengers and less re-booking of missed flights, connecting or otherwise, should the flight be canceled. Better to piss of 60 people instead of 160 people and it costs a lot less dollars to re-book those people.
Telltale Signs You Are On a Small Plane * You have to board the plane by walking outside and up some stairs * You are given green tags (United) because your “carry-on” luggage needs to be checked in * The flight steward(ess) is ducking while greeting you as you enter * There are propellers instead of jet engines connected to your wings * Everyone gets an aisle OR window seat…OR BOTH! * The flight is operated by some airlines you haven’t heard of underneath the auspices of your regular airline * It has the words, “Express” or “Regional” attached to it in some form or another
FLIGHT DURATION
The shorter your flight, the more leeway the airlines feel they have in delaying the flight. Why? Because they feel they can wait until the last minute to send you off – more time to hold off, waiting for the weather to get better because you’re not that far from your destination. If you have a longer flight – you cannot really time things. If there is a window open - it will be given to the flight that has a smaller window of opportunity. Once a flight is airborne, it has limited time in the air, so it’s going to land whether they like it or not.
FLIGHT DEPARTURE TIME
In the morning, your airplane is usually sitting at the airport. It’s the first flight of the day so there is no need to wait for a inbound flight to bring your plane to the gate. Towards the end of the day, you’re at the mercy of many variables. Canceled inbound flights that include your outbound plane is one problem. Canceled flights during the day leads to stranded passengers re-booked on alternate routes and reduce your chance to go stand-by should your original flight be canceled. If you’re on the last flight out, usually it’s very close to the last flight out for other airlines so there’s little chance to make a last minute switch. All this usually means you have no problems flying out to your client, but plenty of difficulty trying to get home.
AIRPORT CONGESTION
If your destination or departure airport is a major hub, that’s not a good thing. This means your airline is competing with many other airlines for a very scarce resource – the runway. When push comes to shove, the FAA moves the airport into “Flow Control” which limits how many incoming / outgoing flights are allowed at the airport. This is usually due to weather and it means airlines must prioritize their flights which means cancellations and delays for passengers. At smaller airports, you do not have as many flights, thus less need for flow control situations.
There are probably other factors, but these are the ones I’ve experienced the most in my travels. Stay tuned for Part 2, where I explain how to deal with these factors and give you the best chance to make it home.