When things are at the limit because of unfavorable weather conditions, the situation is quite constrained, both for the pilot and for the airline, but especially for the passengers who have to reach the destination.

Generally, the pilot is the first who says that it is not okay to fly, because weather is not favorable. In these situations, the airline is the one who financially loses and sometimes it will try to put pressure on the pilot to perform the race. For large airlines, loss, cancellation, delay or deviation of a race are just part of the financial equation.

However, for small companies for example, hotel accommodation for 100 passengers could mean a significant profit loss.

In either cases, the safety of the passengers must prevail before the loss or gain the money. However, besides favorable or unfavorable weather, there are many other elements to consider when it comes to safety: runway conditions, aircraft landing facilities, airplane landing capacities, inoperative equipment, tired crew or, why not, pilot qualifications.

As far as the weather forecast is concerned, the longer travel distance is, the better chances are for it to be erroneous. So, beyond the airline’s apparent financial impact in the event of a flight cancellation, it’s hard to cancel it on the basis of a 4 hour forecast, for example, on a 12 hour flight.

How the scenario is set

However, this is essentially just a risk management scenario that ends in the answer of the pilot’s question: if the weather it will be bad anyway, as predicted in the weather forecast, which is the probability to make a landing at destination and, if this is not possible, where do you go?

In this hypothesis, several variables are taken into account, such as: weather conditions, the amount of fuel held so that you can hold the airplane in the air and, of course, which is the alternate airport, if the pilot can not take the aircraft to the destination.

Only after detailed analysis of these risk factor,s the commander of the aircraft will decide whether or not to start. In addition, the decision-making process is guided by each individual airline policy, that is modeled by local regulations.

Subsequently, other departments of the company may be involved, which will weigh the problems associated with a delayed or canceled flight, such as lost connections, recharges, passenger compensation, adjacent staff. In such situations, it is clear that the weather forecast is very bad at destination or, in some cases, even at the airport of departure.

What can you do if you have a canceled flight

Finally, if your flight is canceled due to weather conditions, it is certainly assimilated with other factors that are often not made public by the airline.

Therefore, if you have a canceled or delayed flight, for whatever reason, you are eligible to be compensated by the airline, according to the law. In order to avoid bureaucracy, contact now an airplane recuperation agency.