Back to Squawk list
  • 69

United Airlines is texting travelers live weather maps to explain flight delays

Submitted
Don't believe bad weather is the reason your United Airlines flight is delayed? The airline will now text you live radar maps to prove it. Even when it's bright and sunny, a thunderstorm hundreds of miles away can still disrupt your flight. The Federal Aviation Administration can issue ground stops, which prevent traffic from departing for a certain airport so that those facilities don't get overloaded. Bad weather can also force flights not only to depart late but to take longer… (www.nbclosangeles.com) More...

Sort type: [Top] [Newest]


PlainSpeaking
Brent Bahler 20
Regardless of the airline I’m flying on, I trust the flight real-time flight status information from FlightAware more than the information far more than the scant claims provided by the airline.
chuckwain
Chuck Wain 5
Totally agree! I use FlightAware when traveling and use it with all my family. It is totally accurate and the data comes directly from the aircraft. It is a great product when doing air travel.
Decosse
Decosse 1
Yep! My family always tracks my flights when traveling. They rarely fly, but are into FlightAware
sparkie624
sparkie624 5
I also like using Foreflight for Tacking as well (GA Tool)...
jsteiner
Jeff Steiner 1
I usually "help" my family out when they're traveling, almost exactly like Tyler Jarry on Instagram!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C15AjJTPtrM/
onwardlam
Onward Lam 28
This is a manifestation of the mistrust between consumer and large corporations, mostly misplaced. Look, corporations exist to make money, that's their raison d'etre. Delays costs them money. They want to get going. Some passengers are so impatient and self-inflated (frequently also somewhat unknowledgeable) and will cause a commotion to show they can, even knowing that it will be utterly pointless. That, my friends, is the problem.
stansdds
I cannot argue against that. People today seem to be more self-centered and attention seeking than ever before.
SteveTarr
Steve Tarr 2
Spot on, thank you. Bertrand Russell said it well. "The degree of one’s emotions varies inversely with one’s knowledge of the facts.”
https://medium.com/@SteveTarr/the-thoughtful-leader-d217f5ba07fa
sparkie624
sparkie624 2
You hit the Nail on the Head!
wettej01
wettej01 1
Thank you for a well written reply. I also agree with you completely. This is a move toward treating the symptom.
NYCGOMO212
Gayla Schnitzer 17
I’d much rather be in the know than not. For those who cannot interpret a weather map, that’s their inadequacy.
stansdds
Definitely a move in the right direction.
sparkie624
sparkie624 0
Where I see it as a good idea, there are so many out there that will not know how to interpret it. While most people can understand Thunderstorms or snow forecast for today, giving them enroute weather as to why the plane may be late, I believe it will leave a lot of people confused and not sure how to understand it. They will have to take the enroute weather and convert in to common man language, and then modify it for the Dumbest Dummy to figure it out. There will be many confused by it. I like the way it is now as the Pilot tells you what to expect on enroute weather once on board, and occasionally I have seen the captain come out and explain why the plane is delayed due to weather.
btweston
btweston -2
Yes. We must treat the people like children so they don’t cry.
stansdds
Knowing the reason why your flight is delayed or cancelled does help with transparency.
wd4elg2
Mark Lunday 5
Unfortunately, even with radar and maps and a logical explanation...the flying public will try to second-guess the airline.

Consumers also fail to acknowledge the unpleasant realities of present day:

1. ATC is massively understaffed
2. Airlines are at maximum capacity
3. The system cannot tolerate any disruptions; if a butterfly burps somewhere on the NA continent, then there will be a delay which has cascading effects to the entire ecosystem (good old chaos theory).

If everyone would acknowledge these simple facts, folks would be a lot more patient and understanding.
watkinssusan
flight aware is a great source of information,however,having worked for a large airline during weather episodes,i can tell you passengers dont always believe it,nor understand that it may be sunny where you are,but pouring down rain and severe thunderstorms and turbulence at another location where the crew and plane are coming from,or along their route.. i worked with a person once who got so frustrated with the people blaming us and calling us liars,he went down to the ops office,got a copy of a radar map (the ones the crews used to look at)and brought it upstairs to actually show the less than gracious people what was going on..also remember getting screamed at by a man who stated he had just spoken with his wife who said,well im in dallas and its bright and sunny here,so how can they tell you its raining there!!the internet and everyone having cell phones so they can pull up a local or regional weather map thmeselves helps a lot now..!
iflyrjs
terry gersdorf 3
This won't help passengers still call relatives at home and they say the wx isn't bad there
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
It will give some a Feel good feeling that they won't be able to figure out... they will see a big cloud that they will fly through and then get ansi... and things like that... I like the idea, but I am not sure that it is a good idea!
Decosse
Decosse 2
I think it's a good idea-some people may not understand it, but enough will. Once they've programmed their system, should be pretty seamless. I can't speak to United, but Delta's app already gives you a lot of information. If there is no plane at the gate Delta's app will give you ETA, where it is inbound from. Then I go FlightAware, and info is pretty much the same. Turned on a few other PAX on to both apps. There will always be a few ijits no matter how much info you give them.
sparkie624
sparkie624 0
That is actually a good idea... However, many probably will not be able to understand what they are looking at... Most can't understand the weatherman on the news, much less weather that has to do with enroute weather.
jkeifer3
Joe Keifer 0
Deflection noted.

Login

Don't have an account? Register now (free) for customized features, flight alerts, and more!
Did you know that FlightAware flight tracking is supported by advertising?
You can help us keep FlightAware free by allowing ads from FlightAware.com. We work hard to keep our advertising relevant and unobtrusive to create a great experience. It's quick and easy to whitelist ads on FlightAware or please consider our premium accounts.
Dismiss