However, it may then be impossible for the planes to taxi, as this is a manual process! Combining with hefty winds causes extra challenges to flight planning. The combo can even cause a change of route or a delay if the conditions are extreme. But generally speaking, airplanes are well-equipped to deal with a bit of the wet stuff! Visibility is the critical consideration when it comes to heavy rain.
The pilot needs a clear visual view at slower speeds, such as landing or taxiing on the ground. Heavy rain could affect visibility, but planes generally fly on instruments anyway, so this will not be an issue in itself.
Wind speed and direction can make a flight time quite different than usual. A headwind, however, is where the aircraft is flying against the wind direction.
These time differences are demonstrated most dramatically with longer transatlantic flights. For take-off and landing, airplanes usually move into the wind to reduce their ground speed. Crosswinds can also make take-offs and landings more challenging. To counteract this, airports will impose limits if the wind is moving across the runway. Many airports have runways facing different directions to mitigate against crosswinds, allowing pilots to use the runway that faces into the wind.
Strong winds can make for a turbulent flight, which can be stressful for passengers. Strong winds might be frightening for passengers and crew. Not to mention, turbulence makes serving meals difficult for the flight crew. But as a safety concern, it is also possible for the crosswind component to be too high for a safe landing, although this is unusual in a modern airplane. Modern airplanes are also exceptionally well-designed to cope with freezing temperatures and snowfall once in the air.
Ice or snow should not be an issue once in the air, as most airplanes have de-icing equipment installed. Flight operations still need to beware of freezing rain, which can cause rapid ice build-up, too fast for even the de-icing equipment to keep up.
If ice builds upon the wings of a plane, this can be dangerous. Snow is not a significant problem when a flight is in the air. A pilot does not want to try landing on it unless used to doing that kind of thing. Flight operations should also beware of freezing rain, which is dangerous as it can cause a quick build-up of ice on the wings. Though aircraft are able to operate well in cold weather, many ground equipment systems do not. Fuel trucks, baggage tugs, food-service trucks and lavatory-service trucks all have problems operating in the cold.
Aircraft are built to withstand extreme cold, so why are there so many flight delays in bad weather? Delays happen because of airline operational hazards that arise with the snow and cold.
Here are the top five problems airlines encounter when dealing with the winter weather. The data is reported to the government but not subjected to any kind of formal audit. Since it first required airlines to report the causes of delays five years ago, the government has red-flagged weather delay numbers only twice.
And last year, JetBlue Airways was told it had incorrectly tagged some of its winter cancellations as "air carrier" delays, when, in fact, weather should have been cited. It was not fined. It isn't just the conditions at your airport, along the way, or at your destination that count, but weather anywhere in the system that can be invoked.
That's because the airlines' so-called "hub and spoke" system relies on aircraft coming from other cities, which could be affected by weather. As someone who processes a lot of aviation data, McLaughlin believes airlines are applying this looser definition of weather with greater frequency.
Robert Mann, an airline analyst who has investigated how airlines report delays on behalf of the Transportation Department, says the process can even be confusing to someone inside an airline.
Each carrier has what he calls "inherent biases" to the way it classifies a delay. It all comes down to who gets to report the delay internally.
So what's a passenger to do when a flight is delayed or canceled because of a storm? Arguing with a ticket agent is pointless, because the agent isn't making the call -- it's someone down the line, safe out of your reach. Your most effective weapon is not information, but politeness.
It could get you a hotel room or a meal voucher even when you aren't entitled to one, and it could put you on the next available flight to your destination. And next time an airline says your flight is canceled because of the weather, don't bother looking out your window.
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