apodo77

Just got a text from DL saying 2049 SFO-ATL is pushed up 23 minutes to 11:07am departure.
color me skeptical.

Was wise to be skeptical. Now leaving at 4:30pm.

Currently 2049 SFO-ATL delayed until 4:32pm.
Only one agent to help in SFO SC and Diamond line has callback times of 18-24 minutes.

Good times.

The frustrating part is the app is offering me to switch to DL61 that shows departing on time. What are the odds it actually leaves on time with all other flights delayed? Hard to make a decision.

jrkmsp

Down for me. Ugh.

HDQDD

Were you on an ANG flight? If not, it was likely diverted because JAN was below visibility minimums (1/4mi/500 in Fog and heavy snow) and if I'm reading the historical METAR right, they were not reporting RVR (Runway Visibility Range). That's strange, but could be because some equipment on the field was OTS (Out of service).

brianuseruser

TLH to SNA connecting through atlanta got canceled. Rebooked a 3 hour earlier flight which got delayed to later than my original departing time. Left work early for nothing.

sydneyracquelle

I am currently sitting on DL 2589 from ATL-YYZ. We are number 34 in line to deice. There are only 5 deice machines at ATL. Pilot said 2-hour delay. Pilot is very nice. They are giving us bathroom breaks every 10 minutes as he slowly creeps up in line.

HDQDD

Wow, I hope the pilot was mistaken. If there's only 5 deice trucks and 34 planes, it'll be a lot longer than 2 hours... Perhaps he meant deice pads (or simultaneous deice operations). Even 5 deice pads seems way too little for an operation of ATLs magnitude. It takes anywhere from 10-40 minutes to deice an airplane (from my experience it's longer in places where they don't deice often, like the South).

I realize wintery weather is rare in ATL, but it sounds like DL really needs to invest in some deice equipment there.

ATL is also now on a 2nd tier GS so the GDP is likely going to get worse.

Setherd

I'm delayed 3 hours so far, sitting in the A skyclub....

sydneyracquelle

We are now being deiced after 2 hours sitting on the runway. So 120 minutes divided by 5 deicers divided by 33 planes ahead of us is about 20 minutes per plane if my math is correct. And the weather has significantly improved. Our window was all ice and now it seems like all rain. No snow on the ground. Outside temp is 1C/34F per pilot.

GagaPilot

According to my husband they did hold over MEI for about 30 minutes while the weather came up above minimums. The pilot announced the visibility had come up to make it legal to attempt an approach. They exited the hold and flew on to JAN. About 10 minutes later the pilot made another PA that while JAN had chemicals to apply to the runway to assist with snow removal, they did not have a snow plow capable of clearing the runway (perhaps it broke?)

I'm an airline pilot myself that operates in a winter weather climate (based in ANC). It absolutely baffles me how DL can not check the status of an airport's snow removal before launching an MD-88 full of pax. I can understand weather falling below legal minimums, RVR not reporting, etc. I deal with that frequently. But we always check to see if an airport has snow removal capability and de and/or anti ice capability.

As someone else mentioned regarding ATL deice: winter weather is rare in the southeast, but this needs to be a wake up call to DL to invest in some serious winter equipment in ATL It's their biggest hub and this is an embarrassment.

estedman

8 hour delay here. The bad part is I never received notification that my original flight was cancelled and they cancelled my seat. I think a meltdown is appropriate.

The Situation

Also SEA is having issues today due to dense fog impacting all airlines - lots of delays and diverted flights to PDX. Probably will be a continuing issue for the next few days.

sleuth

Landed at ATL around 1230pm. Delayed about one hour and arrived one hour late. As of now it seems the rain/snow line has moved back north of the airport but is expected to move back south of the airport into the evening and overnight. Local news is now saying 2-4" for the metro by morning. who knows though they cluster F the last storm badly so we shall see. I am just south of 10th street.

When we landed the taxiway was a conga line for the runway. I'd def avoid connecting later in the day - hotels may be sold out if your flight cancels this evening.

sleuth

Pilots tend to run in conservative circles. Are you advocating spending millions to increase equipment levels that would need to be used en-masse once or twice a winter?

It isn't even freezing in Atlanta right now. What fell earlier in the city has already mostly melted. It's raining at ATL.

estedman

Can someone be str8 with me? The gate agent here in CMH just came on the mic and said ATL is now shut down and no flights are landing or taking off. That was at 1532.

GagaPilot

Trust me, DL can afford it. It would provide a huge layer of protection that could keep the airline operating at a much higher level that what it does when one of these winter storms hit.

Yes, the temps may be above freezing in ATL right now, but the bottleneck will go on for days. A large portion of which could have been prevented and lessened with more winter equipment than what they currently have. Also, if the temps drop a few degrees the rain can turn from rain to "freezing rain" which is worse than snow. The holdover times vary by operator and type of fluid, but they become impossibly short meaning that there is simply not enough time for an aircraft to be anti-iced and then taxi to the runway and takeoff.

I'm not saying ATL needs to be the next DTW or MSP as far as winter ops go.... but anything better than what they currently have would be an improvement. I was ATL based for a while and DL essentially gives up when winter weather hits the area.