Flight Delays: old data, point still holds

Weather Delays -- Recent radio gleanings
Recall that in the last year or so, we heard or read that the airspace re-design was created mainly to reduce "delays."

For example:
1.) A Dec. 8, 2007 e-mail from Robert Belzer of NJCAAN carried a copy of a Philadelphia Daily News article by William Bender. Its second paragraph said:"The FAA says it's just sticking to its original timeline for redesigning the airspace over New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia metropolitan area to reduce flight delays."

2.) A letter from Congressman Shays to me dated June 5, 2008 states: "I also know the FAA has consistently stated the only way it can reduce congestion and travel delays is by redesigning the (NY/NJ/PHIL) airspace."

3.) USA Today posted an article that is very much in favor of the redesign and against the then-emerging lawsuits. It was posted on August 4, 2008. With the title "Our view on crowded skies: Air travel delays mount as local interests prevail," it begins with

"Air travelers, who suffered through historic delays last year, are off to another sizzling summer of gridlock, thanks mostly to the spinoff effects of congestion in New York, which causes 75% of the nation's delays. This is nothing new. It just goes on and on...because, as with many other problems, local opposition can easily block the national interest..."


So naturally, I began to take an interest in just what was causing the delays so many entities were complaining about! Some New York radio stations announce airport delays in their "Traffic and Weather" segments. Of course, I can't hear all of the airport-traffic radio items, but I do make notes of those I do hear, albeit sometimes in a hurry. A few times I posted my results on my (now defunct) AOL blog, and am now sharing the ones I heard recently.

In what follows, radio stations will be identified by their call-letters followed by their AM frequency, so as to avoid confusing frequency with the am/pm differentiation. All of the following were heard on AM stations, so my writing "am" refers to time of day.

I still want to improve my recording of the weather, but I'm pretty sure that if the delays were not attributed to the weather, I would have noted that.

Jan. 9, 2009: WOR710, 6 pm news: "... a couple of hours delay at the airports so call ahead."

I don't recall delays being explicitly attributed to the weather, but there had been some snow that day, and there were forecasts of wings "gusting up to" 40 mph.

Jan 15: WCBS880, at 9:38 pm: 2 hours delay at liberty Airport "due to weather." Weather was: About 2" of snow in the morning, snowing in Connecticut stopped at around noon.

Jan. 28, WNLK1400, 11:25 am: Some airport delays due to weather. Weather was: 3" of snow, which stopped around 9 am and turned to rain.
WABC770 also reported delays at around 1:30 pm same day.

March 2: (probably very early in the morning): Reports that "600 flights" were "canceled at major airports" because of a big snow-storm.

"1010WIN" ("ten ten WIN") station reported more than 900 flights being canceled.

Around 11:20 am there was a lull in the snow storm, 1010 announced "30 minute delays" at LaGuardia. By 12:10 pm, there were reports of 2 hour delays at JFK and 3 hour delays at LaGuardia.


About 3 days earlier, I heard mention of "2 hour delays at airports." The weather was OK, so that may have been an honest-to-goodness congestion delay.

March 11: WOR710, 8:50 am: LaGuardia 40 minute delays, "due to low visibility." (IIRC there was some rain and fog)

WNLK1400, Around 12 am (midnight) March 12: Report that passengers on a Delta flight were "kept for 10 hours" without food.

Friday April 3, Various reports of 2-hour "arrival delays" at LaGuardia, later reports of 4-hour delays. IIRC because of fog. There was some rain and thunder that day.

April 21 WOR710 around 7:30 am: Airport delays due to "low visibility." Weather was: Strong rain storm the previous night, fog in the morning.

So here are 8 instances of delays I recorded in the last few months, I'm sure there were many more but I simply wasn't near a radio -- only one of which may have been caused by "regular" congestion and not caused by weather conditions.

This sample is typical of many I've written down during the last year or two: Delays are almost invariably caused by weather. I remember one delay last year being caused by "software glitch."