Tools to track flight delays

by Jerry Guo on

I just came across this nifty little site: AvoidDelays.com. It compiles a monthly list of the airports with the most delays, as well as the worst times to fly into each, and perhaps even more beautifully, it includes the top 10 most delayed flights. You can even browse through each airline’s most delayed flights–and make sure you don’t book one of these flights from hell.

I saw that the three airports I use the most–Newark, LaGuardia, and JFK, all made the top 10 list, coming in first, third, and ninth, respectively. Yay. I guess? And the worst times for these airports, as well as several of the other ones, seem to be around 7 pm. I’ve found that if you can just delay your arrival to after 10 pm for these three airports, the headaches and squeeze from all the traffic dramatically decreases. Of course, you don’t want to do this at other airports such as Miami, Seattle, Chicago, and San Francisco, where the 10-11 pm slot is exactly the time range you want to avoid.

While we’re on the subject of flight delays, you can get real-time info direct from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on flight delays, sorted by region or airport, here. They have a nice map of the US color-coded with delays, broken down by severity. For the even more hardcore, there’s FlightStats.com, which does an even better job of showing you delays around the country in real-time.

LaGuardia TSA lets passenger through without checking ID

by Grant Martin on

My girlfriend hasn’t had a valid ID for a few months now. The story has something to do with alcohol, a Jimmy Eat World concert and a giant squid (I think), but it’s something I can tell later.

In the time before she procures new identification from the great New York department of motor vehicles, she’s been using various forms of expired ID to get into bars and onto planes across the country. It’s kind of a dodgy way to go about business, but living in the financial world without a car, other things have priority.

At first she had trouble getting through security at the airport. Technically you can get past TSA without picture ID, mind you, it’s just that you have to be subjected to secondary screening at the checkpoint and bring a couple other forms of ID. Once you get used to it though, it’s really no big deal — and she’s adapted pretty well.

Passing through security at LaGuardia yesterday, she was prepared for the same questions. Instead however, in blatant disregard for protocol she just got waved through by the security officer. Nobody asked for ID. Anywhere.

Anyone else slip through security today?

Great job guys.

Considering an airport lounge membership? Think again

by Iva Skoch on

I know Grant recently wrote about how he enjoyed his airport lounge membership. I don’t know if WorldPerks (Northwest) does a better job than OnePass (Continental) but I am actually bitterly disappointed with mine.

I have had a Continental Presidents Club pass for about a year now, and, honestly, I don’t understand why anyone would want one. Once you get in, it is hard to find a spot to sit peacefully, because the place is always packed (with people on conference calls, usually). They serve terrible food, if you can call crackers and some cheap cheese “food.” Yes, they do have free newspapers and magazines, although their choice of magazines is quite peculiar — they range from what looks like advertising brochures on golf vacations to Spanish-language pop culture rags. OK, they do have free booze. “Free” is relative, though, since you actually pay for the membership ($400+ dollars annually.) My favorite part is the bathroom. They do have nicer bathrooms than what you find in most terminals. Is it worth $400? You tell me.

To be fair, I spend most of my “lounge” time in the New York metropolitan area and, perhaps, the lounges here are worse than average. Perhaps I am too spoiled by the lounges in Europe which are typically so much nicer! Or, perhaps Continental just gives out way too many of these memberships free with credit cards…

Bedlam at Heathrow ensues, as British Airways 777 shorts landing

by Grant Martin on

London‘s Heathrow Airport was cast into disarray today when a British Airways (BA) 777 landed short of runway 27 and nosedived into the earth before the tarmac. Several landing gear were sheared off while the airframe sustained significant damage.

Amazingly, there were no casualties in the disaster, with only a couple dozen passengers being taken to the hospital for minor injuries and one concussion. The rest of the passengers deplaned from the emergency slides. It is perhaps a testament to the pilot’s aptitude and performance during the emergency that nothing worse happened.

According to the most recent reports, the aircraft appears to have lost power on approach, resulting in the plane gliding silently under only mechanical control onto its belly.

Operations at Heathrow shut down completely following the incident, with a graduated return to operations over the course of the day. Despite the resumption, dozens of flights were canceled, stranding passengers inside of the already cramped terminal and overtaking lounges. I can only imagine how pleasant that was.

Heathrow expects to resume operations tomorrow as the investigation continues.

How to not land: A picture lesson courtesy of Iberia

by Grant Martin on

It’s difficult to say exactly what was at play in these conditions, but the position and response of this photographer gives a great vantage point of an aborted Iberia (IB) landing in Bilbao earlier this week.

The consecutive photos posted here show a quick time lapse of what was going on in a few scary seconds over the tarmac.

Among the airline community, the general consensus is that wind conditions caused significant shear near the runway, resulting in turbulent gusts just prior to wheels down. After two tries at landing on this in Bilbao the IB flight had to divert to Vitoria for another rough (albeit successful) landing.

So don’t rush off to hate on the Iberia pilot. As we learned from last year’s One-Two-Go crash on Thailand’s Phuket island, landing in high winds can be extremely tricky.

I’ve been through a couple of aborted landings, but never one that has actually touched down and returned to the skies. As docile as my experiences were, they were still frightening. I wonder what people on this flight were thinking.