75% of AA flights canceled in DFW...

[jke406]

Guess they learned from the Jet Blue debacle.

What's SWA's plan?

 

[densoo]

What's SWA's plan?

Fly the HUD down to 50'.

 

[say again]

Whats going on at DFW???

 

[Truckdriver]

They will probably come out better off by not flying those airplanes for a day anyways. I think UAL lost less money on a couple of the storms in DEN and ORD this year because they didn't burn any fuel for a day.

 

[Andy]

Whats going on at DFW???

03:02 PM CDT on Tuesday, March 18, 2008


[SIZE=-1]By SUZANNE MARTA and KIMBERLY DURNAN/ The Dallas Morning News [/SIZE]

Air traffic workers evacuated a control tower Tuesday morning at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport as strong gusts and intense storms moved through North Texas.
Most inbound and outbound flights between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. were cancelled at the airport. American Airlines reported at about 1 p.m. the cancellation of 720 arriving and departing flights, a number that was expected to grow. American Eagle reported an additional 150 cancellations.
In addition, American had diverted close to 100 flights to other airports to avoid the storm. The carrier said it was attempting to get those flights back to D/FW later today. American spokesman Tim Wagner said that by cancelling so many flights, the carrier was looking to avoid exacerbated delays as an additional wave of storms were expected later today.

“This is a very dangerous storm that continues to unload lightning strikes and extreme wind gusts and everyone here is going to err on the side of caution," said airport spokesman Ken Capps.
Wind gusts of 65 mph were reported at D/FW Airport, said Jesse Moore, a National Weather Service meteorologist. Mr. Moore said a possible funnel cloud was reported by an Federal Aviation Administration official near D/FW airport. “All I heard was they thought that they saw a funnel,” he said.
Roland Herwig, a FAA spokesman, confirmed that D/FW’s West air traffic control tower was evacuated at 10:35 a.m. All employees except for one supervisor and one controller left the tower for 17 minutes. The tower was back up and running at 10:52 a.m., Mr. Herwig said.
An airport spokesman said slowdowns in air traffic control meant that the airport was running at less than 50 percent of its regular capacity. The reduction in flight schedules was expected to continue this evening.
D/FW officials have activated their “concessions plan” due to the severe weather, and will keep restaurants and other concessions open until midnight for stranded passengers.
American Airlines spokesman Tim Wagner said passenger loads on Tuesday were around 80 percent, thanks to the busy spring break season, and were likely at similar levels on Wednesday. That could mean it may take a couple days before affected travelers can reach their destinations. Mr. Wagner said passengers connecting through D/FW will be routed through other airports.
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The airline will automatically begin rebooking affected itineraries, but customers should call l-800-443-7300 for more information.
Lynnette Hoole, 55, of Naperville, Ill., was trying to fly to Mexico with her husband for an "empty nest" vacation when her flight was canceled at D/FW. "I thought it was a great idea, but it's blowing up in my face," she said.
She said she was told she couldn't get another flight until tomorrow which would knock a day off her 10-day vacation.
She said being from the Chicago area made her more understanding of weather delays but she still didn't like it. "Well, there was thunder and lightning so I had to believe them when they blamed the weather. But I'm disappointed beyond belief."
Jim Killion, 55, of Bedford, said he will have to miss a training class for his wholesale distribution job because the two flights he had scheduled for Atlanta were canceled. "I'm just going to get a refund," he said. "I can't get there in time."
Ryan Staha, 20, of Austin, who had flown to North Texas for a job interview said he hoped he could reschedule his canceled flight home in time class Wednesday at the University of Texas.
Southwest Airlines Co. spokeswoman Ashley Rogers said the spring storms had caused three-hour delays on flights from its Dallas Love Field headquarters. As of just before 1 p.m., the carrier had cancelled 20 flights and diverted another 20 flights. Ms. Rogers said operations were running normally elsewhere around the state.
High water was reported in Argyle and The Colony as 1 to 2 inches of rain fell in North Texas.
Dallas Fire spokesman Paul Lara said he had heard of one possible high water rescue of a trapped motorist near Marsh Lane and Northwest Highway.
The Anna Fire Department responded to a report of flooding in the 2300 block of Collin County Road 427, on the northeastern side of the city. The report was that ditches were flooded and water was headed toward a home. Firefighters were still at the scene about noon and there was no confirmation on whether any houses were flooded.
A flash flood watch remained in effect until 7 a.m. Wednesday for parts of North Texas. A flash flood warning was issued for Dallas and eastern Tarrant counties and expected to last until 5 p.m. Tuesday. About 1 to 2 inches had already fallen in the area and up to another 2 inches were expected, the weather service said.
Temperatures started in the 70s Tuesday morning and dropped about 10 degrees by late morning. Temperatures were expected to dip into the 50s and 40s later today, the National Weather Service said.
Temperatures were expected to heat up to the 60s Wednesday and back into the 70s for Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, high temperatures would likely remain in the 60s and rain was possible overnight.
Easter Sunday was expected to wet and high temperatures were expected to remain in the 60s.
Staff writers Paul Meyer, Ian McCann and TIffany Glick contributed to this report.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/031908dnmetweather.15dcda1.html

 

[jke406]

Fly the HUD down to 50'.

after SWA's "culture" allowed it to willingly and negligently skip required MX inspections, I doubt if it would surprise anyone to hear they would fly down to IIIA mins...in the middle of a thunderstorm.


can you say "hubris?"

 

[Sedona16]

Was there this morning. Things got ugly with windshere and microbursts. 60 knot loss of airspeed at one mile final and at the threshold. One airplane was in it and managed to "fly out of it" whist going around then the airport was shutdown. Winds in excess of 80 mph on the runway at one point and the tower tells all the airplanes on frequency they are temporarily abandoning the tower with funnel clouds and tornados moving closer. Fun for the whole family. Dont worry eventually an Eagly guy volunteered to takeoff before everybody else

 

[DC3Flyer]

Not gonna happen

Nobody is going to fly out of a 60 knot loss of airspeed on a 1 mile final, ever.

 

[BEfly]

after SWA's "culture" allowed it to willingly and negligently skip required MX inspections, I doubt if it would surprise anyone to hear they would fly down to IIIA mins...in the middle of a thunderstorm.


can you say "hubris?"

funny...........

 

[BEfly]

Was there this morning. Things got ugly with windshere and microbursts. 60 knot loss of airspeed at one mile final and at the threshold. One airplane was in it and managed to "fly out of it" whist going around then the airport was shutdown. Winds in excess of 80 mph on the runway at one point and the tower tells all the airplanes on frequency they are temporarily abandoning the tower with funnel clouds and tornados moving closer. Fun for the whole family. Dont worry eventually an Eagly guy volunteered to takeoff before everybody else

More funny. Esp since it wasn't SWA

 

[Sedona16]

Nobody is going to fly out of a 60 knot loss of airspeed on a 1 mile final, ever.

Hey I'm just relaying what was said to tower and what tower said back. I was not said pilot "flying out of it". It was an eagle pilot who reported "flying out of it". His voice was noticably shakey. I was waiting in line on the ground during this whole event. We had a full boat and jumpseater on the actual. We all looked at each other with the airspeed loss report and laughed when tower said they were abandoning the tower. A second after an American Pilot chimed in "It's all about me" followed by "everybody for themselves".

I can say Delta was unable to "fly out of it" in 1991.

 

[Sluggo_63]

Nobody is going to fly out of a 60 knot loss of airspeed on a 1 mile final, ever.

I can... but I normally fly about 80 knots fast on final anyhow

 

[JJET44]

I landed around 0800 and we had to pick through the storms. the guy in front of us went around due to +15 kt. wind shifts. It's now 1930 and the weather hasn't changed. Must be these Texas permastorms I've heard so much about.

 

[Mike man]

One airplane was in it and managed to "fly out of it" whist going around then the airport was shutdown.

No way...130KIAS to 70KIAS = bad news.

 

[wmuflyguy]

No way...130KIAS to 70KIAS = bad news.

Yea your pretty much screwed at that point.