pinerd

EWR is a mess today. EWR-SFO flights are cancelled or showing 1-5 hour delays. Club and waiting areas also a zoo.

amejr999

Looks like it, that is a mess. I'm curious what they did with the passengers-- doesn't look like ORF has regular international flights, so there probably isn't any CBP staffing. And the aircraft is stuck there overnight.Really hope they aren't trying to keep passengers on the plane...

expert7700

Would be curious as well. My guess is that CBP traveled to the aiport and cleared all the passengers. https://www.cbp.gov/contact/ports/norfolk-newport-news That plane (and crew after overnight rest) seems to be departing at 12pm tomorrow as UA2819 ORF-EWR

From the seat map it certainly isn't going out empty.

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PsiFighter37

transportprof

By now, you might even have even been able to get to Toronto on Amtrak. PD seems to be operating normally to YTZ, with one exception, in case you have that fancy trip interruption insurance.

Hammer0425

Kind of but not really. The Q400's have to fly lower because they have a lower service ceiling but nothing preventing an RJ from taking a lower altitude route (called a Sermon Route). The bigger issue is that NY Metro doesn't like to issue those routes too often as it will crowd the airspace even more in adverse weather. 19 times out of 20 if your route is closed for weather, you're sitting there until a reroute becomes available or something opens up. That includes the Q400's. Also gets into ops specs and what the airline allows the pilots to do in terms of getting creative to get out of there. Thunderstorms though, the performance of one airplane to the next and how they deal with them is virtually identical (unless you can top them).

More of an operational spec with the airline than the aircraft. The commuter jets may have a clear icing limitation or more so, it's just a case of them going into bigger airports that when the weather goes downhill, that's it and the RJ flights are stopped first (example ... a 145 going from Toronto to Newark cancels but the Q400 going from Toronto to Buffalo goes ... that's more a case of the airport than the weather). Landing for sure though you're right if it's a contaminated runway, the required distance will be longer for a heavier airplane.