The government shutdown is, of course, on the minds of most travelers. When someone’s plane will take off (or not), when it will land, etc., if an airport has a ground stop, etc., are all important topics to anyone with flight reservations in the next few days to weeks to….months? (geez, I hope not)
If you already have an upcoming flight reservation, you’ll undoubtedly get notifications of delays. But if you’re a travel geek and just want the pulse of what’s happening in airports right now, it takes a little more search.
There’s FlightRadar24, of course. It’s a great resource. But if you just want a quick look at what’s happening, it might be a little overkill for your purposes.
I recently found a website that shows the very basics – probably just what a person would be looking for if they just wanted to know how the shutdown, and/or anything else, is affecting airports at any given moment. And, ironically enough, it’s a product of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration.
It’s the National Airspace System Status website.
Any airport that has an active airport event – be it wind, thunderstorms, ground delay, airport closure, etc. – is listed on the page. Here’s a list view of a point in time from earlier this week.
You can also learn more information about each delay by clicking on “Advisory,” “Delay Trend” and “Scope.”
For example, here’s what was being said about Orlando International Airport, which had a Ground Delay due to Air Traffic Control staffing, at the time I took these screenshots:
Advisory:
Delay Trend:
Scope:
Not just ATC
Of course, there are other reasons for ground delays, airport closures, etc. BOS had on-again, off-again issues due to runway construction. EWR was averaging a 265-minute delay due to thunderstorms. SLC had to de-ice. And the list goes on and on.
So, for MCO (and other airports with issues due to ATC), it’s a major operational throttle that’s 100% human-resource-driven; there aren’t enough ATC workers to handle the largest airport in the state. It’s considered unusual, but unfortunately, increasingly common as ATC staffing levels strain capacity. The hours-long average delay is severe and likely to ripple outward, affecting aircraft and crew availability later in the evening, as well as missed connections and potential cancellations.
Good times.
Sure hope the government fixes this mess soon. But until then, you can get an idea of what major events are happening at which airports at:
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