Delayed Flights

Delayed Flights. We all have had an experience where we had a delayed flight some time in our lives. It causes a lot of anger, frustration and confusion. In this article, I share the 3 main reasons why flights are delayed and what you can do next time you have another delayed flight.


This is probably the most common reason why flights are delayed. It is extremely dangerous for an aeroplane to fly during thunderstorms, snow storms or bad visibility. Airlines are able to predict weather patterns by using mostly radar and weather charts. If they do notice bad weather (thunderstorms or snow storms) on their flight plan, they will delay the flight.


Before any airplane leave for a trip, the pilot performs an outside inspection. They have a checklist of things that they need to check and they do this before every single flight. If they do find something out of place during their inspection, they need to contact their engineering team. If the faulty part is an easy fix, the engineering can fix it quickly right there on the tarmac. However, if the faulty part is not available at the engineering facility at the airport, it has to be flown in from another airport/city and this can cause a flight to be delayed.


It often happens that during the flight plan and preparation that the weather at the arrival airport is clear, we all know that weather can change in a nick of time. Should it happen that an airplane approaches the arrival airport, they would get informed by ATC (Air Traffic Control) that visibility is poor at the arrival airport. Should this happen, ATC might order the pilot to do one of two things:

  1. ATC might order the pilot to circle airspace about the airport until the weather has cleared for landing. Should this be the case, the pilot will prepare the aeroplane for landing.
  2. ATC might order the pilot to divert to another airport should there be no indication that the weather is clearing.

Delays will also occur when there is restrictions on the runway at the airport where the aeroplane has to land or if the runway is closed for any reaon. Again, ATC might give the pilot either one of the 2 above mentioned orders (ie. either circle the airspace above the airport until the runway has been cleared or opened or diver to another airport.

Based on the above 3 causes for delayed flights one can clearly see that delays are there for your own safety. An airline will never just delay a flight for no reason. Delays causes airlines tons of money so they will try everything in their power to keep the flight on time. However, things like weather, mechanics and poor visibility is out of anyone’s control. When a flight is delayed there is very good reason for this = SAFETY.


Like I’ve mentioned in the start of this article, we all get frustrated, angry and irritated when we discover that our flight is delayed. I’ve seen a lot of passangers taking there frustrations and anger out on the poor ground staff, gate staff and even the poor crew members. Firstly, know that there is absolutely nothing that they can do. A delayed flight is totally out of their control and the info that they give you, is what they know. The best that they can do is to keep you informed, make sure that you are comfortable and a lot of airlines provide meal vouchers if a flight is delayed for more than a certain amount of time.

The best thing you can do to help yourself and the situation is to take a deep breath and just realise that this is part of life and that you will make the best of this bad situation. Get yourself comfortable, read a bood, watch a movie, get some coffee or something to eat and just “chill”. I know this is easier said than done, but try and teach yourself to just relax and go with the flow.

If you have some other tips that you want to share of what you do when your flight is delayed, please do so by leaving a comment down below. If you find this article helpful, please do share it with your friends and family and be sure that you sign up for my newsletter. You can also go check out my YouTube Channel.

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