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6/25/2017 5:41 am  #1


Too Hot To Fly?

Too Hot to Fly?
Climate Change May Take
a Toll on Air Travel


Excess heat in Phoenix grounded more than 40 flights in recent days, and
scientists say a warming climate could also mean more turbulent rides.

In recent days, American Airlines has been forced to cancel more than 40 flights in Phoenix. The reason: With daytime highs hovering around 120 degrees, it was simply too hot for some smaller jets to take off. Hotter air is thinner air, which makes it more difficult — and sometimes impossible — for planes to generate enough lift.

As the global climate changes, disruptions like these are likely to become more frequent, researchers say, potentially making air travel costlier and less predictable with a greater risk of injury to travelers from increased turbulence.

“We tend to ignore the atmosphere and just think that the plane is flying through empty space, but of course, it’s not,” said Paul D. Williams, a professor in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading in Britain who studies climate change and its effect on aviation. “Airplanes do not fly through a vacuum. The atmosphere is being modified by climate change.”

The problem in Phoenix primarily affected smaller jets operated by American’s regional partner airlines. “When you get in excess of 118 or higher, you’re not able to take off or land,” said Ross Feinstein, a spokesman for American Airlines, referring to the smaller aircraft.

Bigger jets like Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s have higher operating thresholds (126 and 127 degrees, respectively), he said. All three of those maximum temperatures are specific to the Phoenix airport; aircraft have different maximum operating temperatures depending on a variety of factors, including airport elevation.

But even though bigger planes weren’t affected, Mr. Feinstein said, American decided to give passengers on any flight to or from Phoenix between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. — the hottest part of the day — the option to change their trips. Over all, more than 350 flights were potentially affected by the hot weather in Phoenix.

Robert Mann, the president of airline industry analysis firm R. W. Mann & Company, said that although airlines were working to become more efficient now, they were not doing much to prepare for the longer-term effects of climate change. “In a world where they’re focused on near-term issues, the glacial rate of environmental change is not within their fleet-planning horizon,” he said.

Mr. Feinstein of American Airlines referred questions about the effect of climate change on flying to an industry trade group, Airlines for America. The trade group provided its Earth Day statement describing its members’ efforts to become more environmentally friendly by using more fuel-efficient engines and modifying planes to be more aerodynamic.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/20/business/flying-climate-change.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Ftravel&action=click&contentCollection=travel&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=12&pgtype=sectionfront


We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists. 
 

6/25/2017 6:55 am  #2


Re: Too Hot To Fly?

I read about this last week.

The question that popped into my mind was: how do planes fly around the Mideast where daytime temperatures in the summer are routinely 120 and above? Does this have any effect on our military aircraft in Saudi Arabia, or Bahrain, or UAE, or Lebanon, or Qatar?

I know a lot of international flights in Jeddah arrive and depart late at night, but many Saudia flights (domestic & international) are coming and going throughout the day in those high temperatures.

Sandstorms would ground the planes, but not the temperature.

 

6/25/2017 7:18 am  #3


Re: Too Hot To Fly?

Rongone wrote:

I read about this last week.

The question that popped into my mind was: how do planes fly around the Mideast where daytime temperatures in the summer are routinely 120 and above? Does this have any effect on our military aircraft in Saudi Arabia, or Bahrain, or UAE, or Lebanon, or Qatar?

I know a lot of international flights in Jeddah arrive and depart late at night, but many Saudia flights (domestic & international) are coming and going throughout the day in those high temperatures.

Sandstorms would ground the planes, but not the temperature.

Good question. Pretty much out of my realm of expertise.
The little bit that I could find on the BBC suggests that flying at night and longer runways are strategies there.
You could also fly fewer people in order to make the planes lighter to compensate for less lift, I guess.


We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists. 
     Thread Starter
 

6/25/2017 4:14 pm  #4


Re: Too Hot To Fly?

United might want to consider resurrecting the Boeing 727.   The 3 engined jet was specifically designed for the thinner atmosphere in Denver and for the short runway of LaGuardia.

Of course aircraft of any size and engine configuration leave hefty carbon footprints.


Life is an Orthros.
 

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