Flight cancellations thru bad weather

[jonbeach]

Hi there. Could someone please tell me how it works if bad weather has to limit flight arrivals.


For example, fog at Heathrow may require some flights to be cancelled. Who makes the decision to cancel which flights? Is it ATC or is it the airline that has to pick which flights it prefers to cancel?


An understanding of the process would be appreciated.


Thanks

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

ATC will decide the number of flights which can be handled safely in the conditions. This information is published to all concerned but how the airlines use it I cannot say.

[wiggy]

What DR said. If there's a capacity reduction it's down to the airline to comply-

Usually the airline then looks at cancelling flights to which there's more than one daily service, flights to destinations close at hand to the originating airport where pax might be able to get using alternative means of transport e.g. hire car/train etc..what they will probably try an avoid is wide body longhaul cancellations of perhaps the only daily flight to a particular destination.

[blissbak]

Straight to the point, I guess it's what you wanna hear, ATC has no authority and is never responsible for any flight cancellation.

ATC can indirectly lead to cancellations during personnel strikes, but just because airlines prefer to cancel instead of postponing/anticipate the flights, decision normally made to save money.

[Gonzo]

Yes, as has been described, ATC will pass to the airport the predicted impact of forecast weather in terms of capacity. It will also pass on the predicted impact in terms of delays due to the reduction in capacity.

The airport can decide to request that airlines reduce their schedules by cancelling, or, and this is the case for LHR, it can decide to invoke a process which all the airlines have signed up to which forces them to cancel a proportion of flights.

See here:
https://www.acl-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Airportinfolink_LHR_localrule4.pdf