ROCHESTER, N.Y. — It’s been a challenging few days for air travelers across the country, including those who were hoping to get into and out of the Rochester Airport.
Most departures were canceled on Monday and a handful more were either canceled or delayed on Tuesday. Some passengers were told by their airlines, they can’t be re-booked until Friday, causing frustration among those trying to get home after the holidays.
High winds and storms across the country have disrupted travel plans but when flights are canceled at the Rochester Airport, it’s an airline decision, not the airport’s.
The airport has not shut down its runways due to weather in the past decade. “We just prepare the best that we can,” says Airport Director Andy Moore, “fortunately, in Rochester we have a crosswind runway which on days like today is used for almost every single departure and arrival for obvious reasons because you always want to take off and land with a headwind.”
The airport has a fleet of plows and dedicated drivers who work around the clock this time of year to keep the runways clear.
Moore further explained the reasons behind flight cancellations. “It’s an airline decision, pre-emptive cancellations sometimes happen because they don’t want to get the pilot, crew and more importantly, passengers stranded somewhere, that doesn’t benefit anybody so, they cancel the flight ahead of time,” he says.
Even if a flight is still scheduled, it doesn’t guarantee an on-time departure because everything that rolls onto the runway in wintery weather, needs to be de-iced. “They’re constantly out there doing the best job that they can,” Moore notes “but when it snows 6 inches and there is freezing rain, you want to make sure that aircraft is clean and safe and it takes time to do that.”
Moore also mentioned the morning rush at the airport. “In the morning we have 13 departures before basically 7 o’clock and it starts to back-up if the crews need more time to de-ice and fuel because of weather conditions,” he says. “So, usually in the winter time you get more of a backup in then you do in the spring, summer or fall.”
Travelers with early morning flights in the winter months should allow extra time for connecting flights. Interestingly, some of the only flights that made it out of the airport on Monday were on low-cost carriers that fly direct, a useful tip for winter travel.
Rochester airport runways remain open despite winter storms, but airlines make final call on cancellations WHEC.com.
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