Austin gate issue
 

There have been thunderstorms in Austin this evening so I decided to tune into liveatc to see how the airport is doing. It is 11:40pm right now.

There are 3 Southwest flights on the ground without a gate and 2 more in the air landing very soon.

Southwest has 6 gates in AUS with 5 occupied by planes parked overnight which they are not planning to move. They plan for all the late arrivals to cycle through one remaining gate.

Is this normal? How quickly can a plane unload and then move out of the way. I wouldn't want to be in the fifth plane in the queue for the same gate.

Both Dallas & Houston have been having significant issues for several hours much of the day due to severe weather, so presumably lots of diversions (not just into Austin).

http://www.fly.faa.gov/adv/adv_list.jsp?WhichAdvisories=ATCSCC&AdvisoryCatego ry=All&dates=Sunday%2C+05-28-2017&AirFlow=AirFlow&Ctop=Ctop&Gstop=Gstop&Gdelay= Gdelay&Route=Route&Other=Other
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http://www.fly.faa.gov/adv/adv_list....te&Other=Other

That doesn't really sound like a gate issue per se. It sounds like a boneheaded decision if they actually didn't move any of those RON planes to allow offloading of inbound flights. (I'd be shocked if they didn't)

Planes can be easily moved but does not do any good if you do not have the ground crew and gate crew to staff it.

Probably just another case of it being cheaper to make passengers suffer then staff appropriately or adapt to conditions.

You feel that Southwest staff just 'should have been there' for all of these diverted planes???

Carriers are responsible for filing tarmac delay contingency plans for large/medium/small/non-hub and even diversion airports. Carrier's own staffing and coordination with airport authorities are part of that - by CFR.

That's a yes.

One time, a few years ago, I was flying ORF-BWI. Storms in the Baltimore/DC area had ORF taking WN diversions. They had an extra 6-8 737's at remote stands. The whole terminal was just full of passengers. The vendors were overwhelmed. The staff did what they could. Sometimes things happen and you have to take them in stride.

Are the ground crew prohibited from moving more than one RON plane per day? :confused:

Pushing back a plane with no one on it takes less time than deplaning a 737 and then pushing it back for the next one @:-)