Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Mother Nature may just be the Grinch who steals Christmas this year as significant air travel problems are likely to result from a massive winter storm developing and expected to impact a large portion of the Midwest and Northeast US.
In the bullseye of the storm is Chicago, home of two important hub airports in O'Hare and Midway, which may cause significant problems at other airports, including Buffalo, travel experts say.
Kathleen Bangs with FlightAware says airports and airlines will look at two things in determining whether flights are canceled or delayed. "Where will there be areas of low visibility, and where will there be areas with strong winds, often the to go hand in hand," says Bangs. She says if everything has to be done as an instrument approach, that is more time consuming for the airlines when pilots come in to make their landings. "We also look at strong winds because that also operationally limits airlines, sometimes to which runways they can use and how fast traffic can be cleared for takeoff and landing, again, depending on not just the velocity of the winds, but the direction and how closely it lines up to the major runways at different airports," adds Bangs.
Bangs says another factor can also shut down airports, and that is ice. "Hey don't they don't have removal equipment for ice," she quips. "Even if they did, even if they could keep the runways open with severe ice, passengers simply couldn't get to the airport safely. airport workers couldn't travel, you know, on the roads to get to the airport closely," explains Bangs.
Bangs recommends downloading your airline's app so if you learn your flight is delayed or canceled, you can make rebooking plans more quickly. She also suggests something airlines don't necessarily like: buy a backup ticket. "If you really think there's a good chance delays or cancellations, you're going to be widespread in the areas you're traveling. It doesn't even have to be a refundable ticket, you can get a much more inexpensive non refundable, but even though it's non refundable, it still means you can bank it and use it later," says Bangs.
AAA's Brian Murray says Chicago is a big connecting hub for flights not just to Buffalo, but for most of the country. He recommends changing your plans and getting in a day early for the Bills game against the Bears. "Sometimes the airlines will offer a waiver pending a winter storm that allows not only change without a penalty, but also at the same fare. So typically, if you can change an airline reservation and avoid a penalty, if there's an upcharge on the fare, you typically would have to pay that however, in certain circumstances, they waive that as well," says Murray. He adds there are plenty of hotels in Chicago to accommodate you.
He says Chicago is a major connecting point to to destinations around the world. Delays there could mean trouble for the Bills Mafia. Murray notes sometimes snow is localized to airports in Chicago, but it could be challenging.
At Buffalo's airport, Joe Guarino recommends calling your airline before heading to your flight. "Having said that, we do a great job of keeping the airport open," says Guarino. He says every snow event is different, but he will do the best he can to keep the runways open and flights moving.
Guarino says delays in other cities like Chicago can have a ripple effect on operations in Buffalo. "It's all incumbent upon the airlines and how they schedule and if they're going to, you know, cancel any other flights," notes Guarino.
Guarino says he works directly with air traffic controllers to arrange snow clearing operations. "Anything we do out there, we're constantly communicating as if we're an aircraft on the airfield. We always call ahead, let them know what our intentions are bringing the equipment out, and we work between traffic. So they give us a window of say 15 minutes on the runway surface and the various taxiways and then we'll clear for an aircraft to arrive or depart," says Guarino.
In anticipation of the winter storm, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines are waiving fees for anyone who needs to rebook a flight this week.
Southwest announced that customers flying through O'Hare or Midway Airports should expect disrupted service, meaning flights could be delayed, diverted, or canceled. For those rebooking a flight, the rebooked date must be within 14 days of the original departure date.
United customers may have their change fee waived, as long as: They purchased the ticket before Dec. 17, were originally traveling between Dec. 21 – 23, and would like to rebook their flight to travel between Dec. 18 – 30.
American Airlines customers may only have their change fee waived if they: purchased their ticket by Dec. 19, were scheduled to travel between Dec. 21 – 23, and would like to rebook for a flight between Dec. 19 – 30.
