Originally Posted by
chgoeditor
I can't point you to a resource that will definitely tell you why you detoured to Fresno. But I can suggest some reasons why an airline would divert to one airport over another:
1. The closest open airport was overwhelmed with other diversions.
2. The airline doesn't have regular operations at the closest airport.
3. The closest airport doesn't have a runway that's big enough to handle the plane.
4. The closest airport doesn't have sufficient takeoff and landing slots to accommodate all of the diverted airplanes.
5. The airplane went to the airport that it was closest to, not the airport closest to its destination.
6. The airline anticipated that diverted passengers would have to be put on alternative flights to the original destination (vs. reboarding the diverted airplane and continuing their flight). The airline chose the airport that would have a sufficient number of seats available on alternative flights.
Thanks for the responses. All of your points make sense perfectly however, none apply. This is the reason I was so curious. In response:
1. There were 3 closer airports, I doubt there were many diversions this night. We were diverted from a very small coastal airport due to fog.
2. They do, at all three closer airports
3. This was a small plane, all 3 other airports are large international
4. This could be it, although it is hard to belive all 3 couldn't accomodate one small aircraft
5. This is absoultely not the case
6. If this was the case they would certainly have chosen chosen one of the other three larger airports
You can see why I am trying to get to the bottom of this. My gut instinct tells me it was more convenient for THEM, not us. If I do discover this to be true I won't travel (nor will my company) with them anymore.
Wiirachay, thanks too for your point. However, there were three large international airports closer than the small non-int airport they took us to. There was no bad weather inland. Even SFO (coastal) flights were landing this night.