Squawk Ident
Congestion continues to grow in the NAS airways and airports. How has your flight department adapted to this new situation?
Our pilots try to be mindful and file their flightplans as accurately as possible, and adjust and cancel if necessary. We explain to the passengers the need to adjust the timing on certain days/times to have less negative impact.
Justin Whyte
ATP. Citation CJ4
Dir of Aviation
POET Biofuels
Wichita KS
In order to succeed in my operations, I motivate pilots to file flightplans early, notify FBOs of our arrival, encourage pax to leave earlier, and monitor FAA delay information.
Paul Riskey
ATP/CFII. Citation Sovereign
Flight Dept Mgr
Federated Hermes
Venetia PA
Congestions have made us try to operate during off-peak times and days when going to high-density locations or events.
Richard Schimmelbusch
ATP. Global Express
Managing Pilot
Circadian Aviation
Renton WA
As pilots for commercial operations, there isn’t much we can do about congestion in the NAS. We have the training and equipment to take advantage of better methods of utilizing airspace. The burden falls on FAA to actually implement a modern airspace plan that incorporates technology that has existed for years in streamlining operations. There is the need to find contractors who can deliver new, updated systems on time. Also, it is necessary to keep up with controller training and recruiting.
Mike Daley
ATP. CRJ200
Captain
SkyWest Charter
Bellingham WA
Reducing operations and adapting to slot requirements is the way to go.
Manuel Montiel
Comm-Multi-Inst. Learjet 35
Chief Pilot
Captain
Miami FL
We try to leave earlier than we used to for some flights. We face delays even in the medevac world, although it’s not as bad as non-medevac flights.
Scott Denham
ATP. Citation Ultra/Encore+/III/II
Captain
Aitheras Aviation Group
Oakland Park FL
First we talk about the situation internally. And our decision-making focuses on reorganizing the agenda and flight schedules.
Walter Santos
ATP/Helo. Global 6000 & Leonardo AW109
Ops Mgr & Chief Pilot
Dedalus
Sorocaba SP, Brazil
It’s terrible. It’s happened to us that we get a clearance, load the passengers, and start up. Then we are told we have a 2.5-hour gate hold. So we shut down and think to ourselves, “Ok, we’ll just add another cycle to this flight.” We finally get to the runway, but have to wait another 30 to 40 minutes with the engines burning 400 lb of fuel an hour. ATC needs to get a better handle on notifications to flight crews. We need better predictions so we can manage the flights better. We try to operate as green as we can. However, ATC seems to always put a stop to that. We typically have to load an additional 500–1000 lb of extra fuel because we are more than likely going to get a reroute in flight. It’s usually not a short cut. It would be nice if we could get a notice of the route change when we get the clearance on the ground. That would take a lot of the guess work out for the flight crews. My ongoing joke is that all ATC operators are oil speculators, and they are just driving their dividends up. It’s really frustrating.
Robert Golden
Comm-Multi-Inst. Sabreliner 65
Chief Pilot
Dylan Dublin Air
Port St Lucie FL
Use ForeFlight with a Sentry+ for redundancy regarding airspace and traffic. With the delays dealing with JAX Air Route Traffic Control Center, ForeFlight has been wonderful for when we cancel IFR over Georgia and fly VFR into Florida.
John Corbitt
ATP/Helo. Citation CJ3, Falcon 2000 & Bell 407
Pilot
V1 Aviation Services
Ocala FL
NAS situations aren’t necessarily known beforehand. Slowdowns are often felt with on a spur of the moment situation. Frequently, a crew just has to be patient with the system.
Sid Jelsma
ATP. Falcon 2000, Gulfstream G200 & Citation CE650
Dir Flight Ops
Pilot Service Provider
Englewood CO
We are continuously reviewing the ATC/NAS OPS Plan/PERTI the evening before the trip. We monitor the plan throughout the day of flights, and lean on ARINCDirect flight following to keep us informed of moving targets, program, delays and TFRs.
Simon Moon
ATP. Gulfstream G650ER/G550
Captain
Simon Hangar
Carmel IN
Adjusting to all of the issues regarding congestion is the way to go. We add about 15 min to every flight to compensate for congestion and rerouting issues. I think PDK (DeKalb-Peachtree, Atlanta GA) is by far the most difficult airport to operate out of and into.
John Marinko
ATP/CFII. Citation CJ1S/CJ1/CE650/I & Fairchild F-27/227
Chief Pilot & Chairman
Cherokee Co Airport Authority
Canton GA
We brief weather, notams, density at the airport, and any other concerning issues. We also carry extra fuel as needed. I feel like the congestion problems occur mostly in the northeast and southeast of the US. Airports that could be problematic are all Class B, such as those in high density areas, like south Florida and southern California. Congestion is also common nearing dates when there’s going to be big entertainment events, such as sports, and concerts. My $0.02.
Harvey Meharry
ATP. Citation XLS+
Chief Pilot
SMI
Rusk TX
Usually, we have difficulties at airports such as TEB (Teterboro NJ), AUS (Austin TX), BED (Bedford MA), DAL (Dallas TX), and FOK (Westhampton Beach NY). Our TA/RA alerts have increased, and as a result, we have instituted 1000 ft before level off altitude rate of climb.
Mary Baker
ATP. Falcon 7X
Pilot
EMC
Westford MA
We modify travel dates or times when possible. I still don’t understand how we receive multiple expect departure clearance times (EDCTs) while airlines remain on schedule.
Ken Hanson
ATP. Challenger 604
Dir of Ops
Oak Air
North Canton OH
Had built in more buffer time for our “estimated time enroute” in our schedule software. Our flight crews are also monitoring weather events for traffic-prone destinations further in advance to better mitigate delays for our passengers.
Mark Zuranski
ATP. Challenger 300
Dir Flight Ops
Eaton
Richmond Heights OH