Ask the Captain: How airlines recover after snow storms

Question: When weather causes thousands of flights to be canceled at once, it must cause a nationwide chain-reaction. How do airlines handle such massive shifting of aircraft after storms?

— John, West Lafayette, Ind.

Answer: It is very difficult. When the weather causes major disruptions, the airlines bring in extra help in their dispatch centers. This is known as irregular operations or irregular ops.

Airplanes, passengers, cargo and crew members are in the wrong place. In addition, scheduled maintenance cannot be performed when the airplane is in the wrong location. The dispatchers, schedulers, maintenance planners and passenger assistance specialists work together to minimize the effect on the airline. These professionals are highly skilled at rebuilding the operation as quickly as possible. Sometimes the rebuilding takes days and results in major delays for passengers, but it is amazing to see how quickly they can get the airline operating normally.

Q: How do the airlines ever catch up when they have to cancel thousands of flights in a winter storm, especially considering that the following flights are probably booked up too?

— B. Whipple, Spokane, Wash.

A: During irregular operations airlines will operate special flights to add seats between cities. Any empty seats on regularly scheduled flights are used. With few open seats, it can take days after a widespread storm to recover.

Irregular operations are very trying for the passengers, crews, maintenance and airline overall. The flight dispatchers, crew schedulers and passenger assistance specialists working in the operations center put in long hours with little sleep while doing a remarkable job. They are the unsung heroes of the industry.

Q: After Delta's massive computer outage (in summer 2016), how did they get fliers to their destinations? I imagine that with today's scheduled flights, plus the stranded passengers, plus limited aircraft and landing spots available, it must be controlled chaos.                 

— Rafael Borrero, Florida

A: I was caught up in the Delta difficulties due to the loss of their computer system. What a mess. With full airplanes and limited extra seats, getting passengers to their destination is a significant challenge. In Delta’s case it was worse because the entire airline was affected, not just one regional area.

You described it correctly, controlled chaos. The airline professionals do the best they can with the information they have. The key is getting the information to the passengers as early as possible and to provide alternatives.

The airline business is a very challenging one, this is one reason.

John Cox is a retired airline captain with US Airways and runs his own aviation safety consulting company, Safety Operating Systems.