I took my first flight at the age of four and, though I can’t remember it, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that there was a delay. Late flights and missed connections seem to be a normal part of travel these days, and they are no fun at all. I remember a student trip to Venezuela where, having arrived at the airport with only a few bolivares in our pockets, we were greeted with the news of a four hour flight delay (which turned out to be even longer). Trying to remain cheerful while splitting a couple of sandwiches among eight is not an experience I’d like to repeat in a hurry.
Delays seem to be a normal part of personal and business travel
Travelers In The Dark About Delays
More planes and bigger airports have resulted in more delays rather than fewer, with a recent New York Times article putting the number of stranded US passengers each year at 400,000, with 25 per cent of domestic flights delayed. To say that this is frustrating is an understatement. The information you need is out there, but it can take a while to get to you. As the New York Times puts it: ‘there is a convoluted flow of information that often leaves travelers in the dark.’
Getting Flight Delay Information
So what can you do? One option is to use the airlines’ own websites to set up mobile alerts to your cell phone or PDA. You can also set up such alerts through Orbitz, which enables you to keep track of any number of airlines. This means you will know if you’ve got enough time to grab a drink or a full meal before check-in. Other options for tracking airlines include:
- Flightarrivals.com - you can search for any airline by flight number, tracking arrivals, departures, schedule changes, delays and airport status
- ATCSCC - the FAA’s air traffic control system command center website, where you can look at delays by region and by airport. The real time information refers to the airports rather than specific flights and the FAA advises travelers to check airline information for specific delays.
- Flightstats.com - you can track flight status for all flights into a particular airport, as well as monitor statistics on delays for particular airports and airlines. I use this one myself and find it provides just the information I need.
Got any flight delay horror stories to share? I’d love to collect them in a follow up post.
Photo: Stuart Whitmore
译文:
不要滞留在机场
我第一次坐飞机是在四岁的时候，可是我已经不记得了，听到有航班延误的消息我也不会感到吃惊。现如今，航班延误和失去联络的事情对于出行在外的人来说是一件再正常不过的事情了，但是这一点都不有趣。我记得有一次去委内瑞拉的学习出访活动，当我们到达机场时口袋里只剩下几个银币，但当时却被告知航班要延误四个小时（甚至更久）。当时，我只能计划着吃完仅有的八个三明治，每次只能吃两个，吃的时候还得保持愉悦的心情，这种经历太痛苦了，我可不想这么快又经历一次。
个人或商务旅行时，航班延误似乎是一件很平常的事情
旅客对飞机延误一无所知
越来越多的飞机和越来越大的机场导致了比以往更多的航班延误，据纽约时报的一篇文章报道说，美国每年都会因为国内25%的航班延误而导致400000名旅客滞留在飞机场。令人沮丧的是这一数据还是一个保守的叙述。你需要的信息总是不能及时传达到位，正如纽约时报说的：‘总是有一些令人费解的消息延误而让旅客对所发生的事情一无所知。’
得知航班延误的信息
那么你能做些什么呢？其中一个选择就是把机场的官方网站和你的手机或个人数字助理建立一个移动连接。你也可以通过比茈建立这种移动连接，这样你就可以随时看到任何航班班次的时刻表了。使用这个方法你就能知道在登记登机之前你是否有足够的时间再喝一杯饮料或是完整地吃一餐饭。其他的方法还有：
- Flightarrivals.com - 你可以登陆该网站查询任何航班的班次，到达时间，起飞时间，时刻表变更情况，航班延误情况及机场的现场状况。
- 指挥中心 - 联邦航空局的空中交通指挥系统操控着中心网站，从这个网站上你可以查询到航班延误的地区和机场。这些实时信息涉及到了机场的所有信息，甚至是航班的具体情况。联邦航空局建议旅客们随时查询航班延误的具体信息。
- Flightstats.com - 从该网站上，你可以查询到特定机场的所有航班的飞行情况，也可以查询到特定机场和特定航线一切延误情况的数据统计。我自己就使用这个网站，而且也总是能够查询到需要的信息。
你有烦恼的航班延误的故事要跟我们分享吗？我想用下面的邮箱来收集它们。
照片: Stuart Whitmore