Top Reasons Why Flights Are Delayed

Very often, on the day of your journey, you get to know that your flight is delayed. Flight delays are frustrating and might cause hours of waiting in uncertainty and sometimes even in cancellation. If the question ‘why do planes get delayed’ appears in your mind quite often, you are on the right page. The following points will help you know some common flight delays reasons, how to avoid them, and get flight delay compensation.

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Why Do Planes Get Delayed?

Listed below are a few reasons for flight delays.

Weather Conditions:

There might be times when you are about to board a flight, but there is an announcement that your flight has been delayed due to bad weather. Weather conditions are one of the key reasons for flight delays. Flight delays can also happen when you are on the way. Flights cannot land safely or leave the airport on a bad weather day. There are possibilities of flights getting inside cloud air pockets where they might come across magnetic forces and pressure and face severe weather conditions, which would ultimately lead to a crash!

Surprisingly, sometimes you may hear about flight delays even when the weather outside is pleasant. The reason is that airlines consider the weather of the whole journey, including the destination. If there is even the slightest of doubt about the safety of flights during the entire journey, flights are delayed or canceled.

Security Issues:

Thousands of people travel from and to different domestic and international destinations via flights. In such a scenario, one of the major concerns is the security of the passengers and staff. You must have heard the news on the television regarding plane hijacks and even terrorist attacks. Airlines follow stringent security check guidelines to avoid such situations. So, when the airport authorities notice anything strange or have a doubt about anyone or his luggage, they do a thorough investigation and checking, sometimes leading to flight delays!

Technical Faults:

Another reason behind a flight delay is technical errors at any moment. Most of the recent surveys on flight delays have pointed out technical issues as one of the major concerns in the 21st century. Airplanes are comprised of electrical and engine equipment which might show faulty symptoms at the last moment. The best way to avoid any sudden accident is to check the parts now and then, and it may result in a flight delay.

Employees Strike:

Employees worldwide have got unions or teams of their own to discuss common problems regarding their jobs like wrong judgments and salary increment issues. In such cases, the employees working in the airports often call for a sudden employee strike without any notice. You might be about to board your flight, but a sudden reason for flight delay may turn out to be an employee strike!

Airport Congestion:

Another most common of all flight delay reasons is airport congestion. With the increasing number of airlines, passengers, and flights, airport congestion is on the rise. Sometimes, the number of flights is more than airport capacity, causing on the ground as well as airspace issues.

More Flight Delays Reasons

You might come across flight delays often, where everything might seem to be okay. However, there are flight delay reasons like medical emergency, wait for connecting passengers, luggage transfer, catering issues, bird strikes, fueling, etc. Sometimes flights are also delayed due to aircraft being cleaned.

How To Avoid Flight Delays?

Here are a few ways to avoid flight delays. Take a look.

Book A Morning Flight:

Most flights in various time zones often face problems or delay during the afternoon or night. Thus, the best way to avoid such flight delays is to board a morning flight.

Fair weather:

Sometimes flight delays take place due to bad weather. If you want to avoid any delay in the transportation of flights, you can check the weather forecast and choose a day when the weather would be clear and sunny.

Non-Stop Routes:

One of the best ways to avoid a delay is to choose a direct flight. When you select a non-stop route without any layover, you can avoid flight delays due to connecting passengers or connecting flights!

Choose Small Airports:

Another great way to avoid random flight delays is to choose a small airport. Suppose you want to travel to any domestic location within the country. In this case, you can go for a smaller airport without international airlines, which would easily save you from congestions and security checks!

How Can You Protect Yourself From Flight Delays Consequences?

If you are wondering how to protect yourself from flight delay consequences, then here are a few ways that might help you:

Be aware: Ensure that you are aware of the compensation you are entitled to in case of delays and the procedure to follow.
Good Planning: If you plan wisely by following the tips mentioned in the section above, you can surely save yourself the hassle of flight delay consequences.
Buy travel insurance: Considering the increasing number of flights delays, it makes sense to buy travel insurance that covers flight delays among other things like lost baggage

Am I entitled to compensation in case of flight delays?

As per the U.S. Department of Transportation, there is no law for the airlines to compensate the passengers for flight delays. So, you must check the airline policy for flight delay compensation and the procedure to make a claim. Some airlines provide meals and accommodation in case of long delays, while certain deliver other facilities. However, there are others that do not provide any options for those stranded at the airport. So, make sure you book your flight with an airline after reading its flight compensation policy.

Conclusion

Flight delays are inconvenient for everyone, but often unavoidable. It is prudent to take all the necessary steps to have a smooth and enjoyable flight. So, follow the tips above to board your flight on time.