This is where the experience of the Captain comes into play. Unfortunately, support facilities and sufficient personnel to handle possible diverts and tarmac delays are not figured in. ![]() Most of the time, an alternate airport is picked for the best weather and is the closest to your destination, and also meets some other criteria for that particular airline, such as navigational aids, sufficient runway length, etc. Therefore an alternate is required as part of your Flight Plan. Alternates are picked because the weather at your destination is predicted to be below 2000 feet (cloud cover) and 3 miles visibility at plus or minus one hour of your scheduled arrival time. Fuel is added and an alternate airport is planned for possible divert purposes. There is no control over the weather, and while you can predict it, the duration and severity of thunderstorms over the airport or on approaches to it, is very unpredictable.įlight Plan, your Captain and flight dispatcher have taken into account the possibilities of holding due to predicted severe weather. Holding, flights will be circling at various points for your destination, hoping to get in. Understandably, you can't conduct a safe approach and landing in these conditions and so flights start holding and gate holds become the norm for your particular destination. Most tarmac delays happen in the summer due to thunderstorms and associated potential windshear. We will concentrate on the major reasons why and how these tarmac delays happen. ![]() However, and this is where the blame game begins, each flight can have its' own specific reason why it is delayed, how long it is delayed, and what is being done to minimize the inconvenience. What causes these tarmac delays? Most of these result from flight arrival delays due to weather. But there has hardly been any comments from the people that are experiencing these delays with you - your crew, and more specifically the pilots and Captain. There have been comments from passengers, lawmakers, airlines' management and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). ![]() There's been a lot in the news recently about tarmac delays.
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