Summer has arrived and with it, millions of holidaymakers. The season can put a lot of strain on the smooth running of airline operations and is a trying time for air traffic controllers. According to a Financial Times article, only 56% of European flights departed on time in the first week of July. Delays and issues can have knock-on effects, creating more cancelations and delays.
Issues facing air traffic control
European airlines are being impacted by bad weather, air traffic control restrictions, and Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine (the war has blocked off large areas of airspace). Delays, closed airspace due to war, and bad weather can force an increasing number of planes into already congested skies. According to CNBC, based on air traffic patterns and airport density, New York City and Florida are the most at risk for delays.
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Many of the same issues plaguing Europe are true of the United States as well. Additionally, the FAA has found a shortage of up to 3,000 air traffic controllers, and air traffic controller fatigue is a real concern. Last summer, the US experienced air traffic jams and near collisions amid challenges in flight coordination.
According to the Guardian, the weather is the biggest factor in air traffic control issues. It stated, “extreme weather has been arguably the biggest headache for the travel industry so far, disrupting flights and threatening to blight summers one way or another…” It also stated adverse weather caused 48% more delays in Europe in 2023 than in 2022. Adverse weather is always a big cause of delays in the US as well.
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A record number of passengers flying
Last summer, an unprecedented air traffic meltdown in the United Kingdom delayed or canceled the flights of hundreds of thousands of passengers. This year, people are once again flocking for their summer vacations, raising the question of whether it could happen again.
As the world has rebounded from the pandemic, some airports (such as Stansted and Manchester in the UK) are receiving record numbers. Europe’s busiest airport, Heathrow, saw its busiest day on record on June 30, and more than 282,000 flights are due to depart the UK in June, July, and August (a little below the pre-pandemic peak of 307,538). However, when counting the total number of seats available and passengers at the airports, the numbers have pretty much recovered.
The Financial Times, citing data from Eurocontrol, stated, “Last month, passengers suffered a cumulative 4.7mn minutes of flight delays, up almost a third from the year before.” It went on to say summer 2024 is proving particularly challenging due to strong traffic growth and network saturation combined with adverse weather.
Passenger numbers are up around 6% over last year and to meet the demand, Airlines for America stated that US carriers are adding mostly another 1,400 flights a day over the numbers seen in 2023. But even finding the aircraft to put in the air can be challenging as Boeing’s manufacturing delays impact airlines and have forced airlines like Ryanair to revise its summer flights.
source: https://simpleflying.com/how-will-atc-issues-impact-airline-operations-this-summer/