Down3Green

Tough break....the Ground Stop technically only affects traffic inbound to LGA. There will still be departures and the ATCSCC just released their plan for NYC departure routings and they've designated fixes for North, East, and South, but none for the West which would normally include ATL. Those are just shut down. You would have to use the South fix which is currently DIXIE and between all the south and westbound traffic out of LGA/JFK/EWR all trying to use the same fix, it just creates gridlock on the ground. You blocked out at 1000 and you're rapidly approaching 120 minutes which is where our action plan begins for the 3 hour rule so I think you're just running out of options.

I see you blocked back in at 1150 and they've posted a new ETD for you of 1215

DL2SXM

personally, I think the pilot is exagerating. I have flown in and out of lga hundreds of times. Heck, I don't even think LGA has 55 planes on the ground at any one time, and if they do, then I doubt all 55 are fighting for take-off slots at or near the same time.

ND76

There was a gigantic (and I mean GIGANTIC) thunderstorm that passed through here (about 200 miles SW of LGA) between 1030 and 1200. It got so dark here that the street lights came on for a time. As it was a big but fast moving storm, that was probably the reason why there were so many planes on the ground at LGA.

DLroads

You probably know already of your second delay... if not, look through the terminal windows... a second set of clouds arrived to the LGA area. I am looking through the window now and it is like a day in London.
Sorry, your current Estimated Arrival Time at ATL is 5:24pm. I would just call it a day...

The irony and injustice is that 1647 (scheduled at 11am) did take off while you guys went back to the gate...

Here is the way it looks now (edited to add)

Coast2Coast

They were reporting 60 - 90 minute delays at EWR, JFK and LGA this morning due to fog. Then this current line of t-storms rolled in.

I fly mostly from JFK, and LGA occasionally. I tend to agree, I can't think of 55 outbounds ever being there. Nor where they can line them all up. But I'm not there, so maybe they're looping them around the outside on the conga line through the main terminal passenger pick-up area?

Travel well. This is gonna be a long summer.

Down3Green

jpmardini, I don't know if you stuck with this flight or decided to ditch it, but they keep pushing back the ETD and have now posted 1445. That WX line is really crawling along on a NNE direction. In case you are wondering, the whole crew started their day with this flight so duty time is not a factor for a long while.....that doesn't mean someone down in ATL at the OCC won't cancel it, but it won't be due to crew duty time-out. FWIW, the 1100 departure got airborne after two hours out at 1309.


OK, 55 is probably a bit of a stretch, but I've certainly been in line at LGA with more than 30. The problem with LGA is that there is only one Ground frequency and at busy times it gets clobbered with congestion. Due to the fact that most aircraft push onto active taxiways and require a pushback call and when using RWY 13 everyone will have to cross 4/22, the frequency is so busy that you simply can't ask what you're sequence in line is....if you try to ask, you will be told in classic New York fashion to shut up. You rarely have any idea where you are in the line-up until you get to the #5 position or so and you're told who to follow. If you're in a nice long line on a single taxiway like many airports, you can try to count tails ahead of you and make an estimate, but at LGA when they are using RWY 13 as they are today, there are multiple departure lines on taxiways P, G, AA, BB, CC, and DD. You really have no idea where you are in that mess, you only know there are a lot of planes.

(LGA ground does have a secondary Ground freq that they will use if they have the mannning, but it doesn't help much. The freq is still too busy to be asking any questions about sequence)

Junior Varsity

I was on DL1789 from ATL-STL last night that was supposed to depart at 7:55. We boarded at 9:15 and didn't take off until 1:30am. We hit the 3hr mark and had to go back to the gate where 1 person got off. Worst part was on an old 757 with no tv or power in first. Most people's phones died. Oh well, part of the game when you travel a lot.

The storms that came through were pretty nasty.

hedo_traveler

I am surprised they are allowing cell phone usage. They usually tell you to turn everything off once the forward door is closed.

Down3Green

In accordance with Flt Ops policy, as the Captain, I always have the discretion to allow cell phones and approved PEDs during "extended taxi delays" (of course I need to coordinate this with the Flt Ldr). Now every Captain's definition of 'extended' delay might be different. If I think the delay is long enough that it will affect arrival time, I'll let folks use phones to check on connections or update people who might be picking them up. With that said, there are times when a 20-30 minute taxi time is built into the overall schedule and won't affect arrival time at all. Once the delay gets into the 30 minute to an hour timeframe regardless of whether it affect arrival time or not, I'll let them use PEDs just to help pass the time. Of course I do so with the assumption that you are all going to act like adults and swiftly turn them off when I say we're #3 for takeoff

jpmardini

We're boarding!!!!!!

hedo_traveler

Thank you! I wasn't aware that you had that latitude.

DLroads

Good luck, though if I were you, I would call it a day. I look at the radar picture, and it is right above LGA area now. I also look through my window's office. I do not think you are going to be up there for a while, unless you happen to sneak to the top of the aircrafts line. There's a lot of dark green and yellow on the radar picture.

jpmardini

I know, I should have, but I want to go home haha. We're probably going to be waiting for a while again. I honestly can't believe we'd be taking off now because it doesn't look good outside.

On another note, flight attendant comes on saying: "Whoever put their Louis Vuitton suitcase in the firstclass closet, please come back and get it or we will check it." Y passenger walks up to get it. Some people....

DLroads

Don't kill the messenger, you have another set of green and yellow clouds comming at you from the west and south west...even the 7 train has delays.

I wish s/he would say something like "we apologize for the delay. We just needed to remove an expensive Louis Vuitton suitcase that a passenger forgot on an earlier flight. The security will now destroy it and we shall be on our way...." (just to see the face of the pax )

jpmardini

Haha great idea! Actually the passenger didn't come up on the first announcement. She had to say it again. The man asked why he couldn't store his bag there, and she said because that's my spot, you have the rest of the plane. ^