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“Thunderstorms, cells, buildups, pop-ups, and squall lines” are commonly heard daily somewhere in the NAS during the summer months. Almost within the same breath what follows is “Ground Stops, Ground Delays, Reroutes, Airspace Flow Programs, and EDCTs.”
Every spring, airlines and flight plan service providers attend FAA and CDM pre-season discussions where information is provided on how to file flight plans safely and mitigate delays associated with convective constraints. ARINCDirect attends these briefings and educates our operations team so that they are prepared to assist when these constraints are forecasted.
Information is plentiful throughout the domestic U.S., Canada, Eurocontrol airspaces. For the rest of the globe, we do our best to gather as many details as possible regarding airspace delays, weather constraints, and tactical conditions.
Guidance and Support
To remain informed, we recommend reading the PERTI Plan (Plan, Execute, Review, Train, and Improve) link on the flight planning page in your account. The link is labeled FAA/ATC NEXT DAY PLAN. The PERTI Plan is the FAA/ATC snapshot of the next-day impacts in the NAS. It comes in an easy-to-review format and is a perfect planning tool, especially if a challenging weather day is forecasted.
Similar to the PERTI Plan, the Network Plan within Eurocontrol airspace is an excellent preflight review of expected conditions. This link can also be found on the flight planning page if you have an applicable departure or destination within Eurocontrol airspace.
Each Flight Coordinator can make requests on your behalf to mitigate Expected Departure Controlled Time (EDCT) or Controlled Take-Off Time (CTOT) delays and facilitate route requests around constrained areas. We also partner with NBAA Air Traffic Services, who often provide us additional air traffic alerts. Utilize the Flight Coordinators as much as needed on those challenging days - that is what we are here for.
File Early
Placing your flight plan on file, even if it’s still a few days out in a “pending state”, helps the FAA and Eurocontrol get a better understanding of the forecasted demand at an airport or throughout and airspace. As a result of the “early intent”, your flight will be issued a more manageable EDCT or CTOT when compared to other flights that file at the last minute.
Additional Constraints
The Bedminster, NJ Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) will be back in play this summer. Similar to the Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach, DE TFRs from the previous administration, the Bedminster location is expected to be frequently activated. This will impact the traffic flow to and from the Northeast US resulting in playbook routes issued by the Command Center. When thunderstorms develop within this airspace while the TFR is active, some dynamic challenges for ATC will occur.
Northeast ATC staffing issues are expected to continue in the N93/PHL sector control area. This often impacts TEB, CDW, MMU and EWR airports, resulting in ground delay programs and airspace flow programs with EDCTs. For a good alternative, look to HPN and TTN where operations are typically unaffected.
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