Power Outage at JFK cancels flights, causes delays

[Jalapeñomel]

Power outage causes massive delays at JFK. 

Some @@@ content in video (several of our students were headed to Italy and are stuck here for now)


www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/power-outage-reported-at-terminal-1-of-jfk-airport/

[bears]

"There were issues in the air, too. An Air New Zealand flight that was already eight hours into its route to JFK had to make a U-turn and return to New Zealand."
I would lose my mind if this happened to me.

How do they get people from one terminal to another at JFK? Are they at all connected through AirTrain? I've never transferred there.

[Bad Dingo]

I was confused because I thought I read about this happening yesterday, but then I realized it did and it's still the same outage. I can't believe it isn't fixed yet.

[mrsslocombe]

Feb 17, 2023 11:46:16 GMT -5 bears said:

"There were issues in the air, too. An Air New Zealand flight that was already eight hours into its route to JFK had to make a U-turn and return to New Zealand."
I would lose my mind if this happened to me.

How do they get people from one terminal to another at JFK? Are they at all connected through AirTrain? I've never transferred there.

You can walk between some of them, but general speaking yes, you take the AirTrain. 

[icedcoffee]

Feb 17, 2023 11:46:16 GMT -5 bears said:

"There were issues in the air, too. An Air New Zealand flight that was already eight hours into its route to JFK had to make a U-turn and return to New Zealand."
I would lose my mind if this happened to me.

How do they get people from one terminal to another at JFK? Are they at all connected through AirTrain? I've never transferred there.

OMG.  They couldn't land at another US airport at least!?!  I would lose my mind also.  16 hours on an airplane to end up in the same place!

[fortnightlily]

Feb 17, 2023 12:15:29 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

Feb 17, 2023 11:46:16 GMT -5 bears said:

"There were issues in the air, too. An Air New Zealand flight that was already eight hours into its route to JFK had to make a U-turn and return to New Zealand."
I would lose my mind if this happened to me.

How do they get people from one terminal to another at JFK? Are they at all connected through AirTrain? I've never transferred there.

OMG.  They couldn't land at another US airport at least!?!  I would lose my mind also.  16 hours on an airplane to end up in the same place!

For real, why not divert? Heading all the way back makes no sense to me. Even if LaGuardia or Newark couldn't absorb all the incoming JFK traffic there are smaller airports in NY. I bet everyone on that plane would rather end up in Philly over back in NZ.

[icedcoffee]

Feb 17, 2023 12:45:05 GMT -5 fortnightlily said:

Feb 17, 2023 12:15:29 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

OMG.  They couldn't land at another US airport at least!?!  I would lose my mind also.  16 hours on an airplane to end up in the same place!

For real, why not divert? Heading all the way back makes no sense to me. Even if LaGuardia or Newark couldn't absorb all the incoming JFK traffic there are smaller airports in NY. I bet everyone on that plane would rather end up in Philly over back in NZ.

I would rather end up in California than back in NZ!  So many options and they chose the wrong one.  

ETAL  The smaller airports likely don't have the ability to accept international flights, but there are so many other US options.

[msmerymac]

Feb 17, 2023 12:45:05 GMT -5 fortnightlily said:

Feb 17, 2023 12:15:29 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

OMG.  They couldn't land at another US airport at least!?!  I would lose my mind also.  16 hours on an airplane to end up in the same place!

For real, why not divert? Heading all the way back makes no sense to me. Even if LaGuardia or Newark couldn't absorb all the incoming JFK traffic there are smaller airports in NY. I bet everyone on that plane would rather end up in Philly over back in NZ.

At 8 hours they were just about halfway, which is probably why they decided to turn back. They had enough fuel. Like on 9/11, some flights that were inbound to the US just turned around, but those that were over halfway mainly diverted to Canada. (My grandma's neighbors spent 4 nights in Halifax.)

[Velar Fricative]

Feb 17, 2023 12:59:16 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Feb 17, 2023 12:45:05 GMT -5 fortnightlily said:

For real, why not divert? Heading all the way back makes no sense to me. Even if LaGuardia or Newark couldn't absorb all the incoming JFK traffic there are smaller airports in NY. I bet everyone on that plane would rather end up in Philly over back in NZ.

At 8 hours they were just about halfway, which is probably why they decided to turn back. They had enough fuel. Like on 9/11, some flights that were inbound to the US just turned around, but those that were over halfway mainly diverted to Canada. (My grandma's neighbors spent 4 nights in Halifax.)

Right but was it impossible for them to divert to LAX or SFO???

I would lose my fucking mind after a 16-hour flight to nowhere.

[tiki]

Feb 17, 2023 12:15:29 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

OMG.  They couldn't land at another US airport at least!?!  I would lose my mind also.  16 hours on an airplane to end up in the same place!

I don't fully understand the rules for international flights, but I know diverting them is extra weird. I was once on a flight from Frankfurt that couldn't touch down at EWR due to high crosswinds. They diverted us to Philly, but we had to just sit on the tarmac there because PHL wasn't able to process international passengers intended for a different destination. Eventually we took off, flew back to EWR, and deplaned there as intended.

[Susie]

This sounds like an opportunity to divert to HNL if I ever heard one.

[karinothing]

Feb 17, 2023 13:04:53 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

Feb 17, 2023 12:59:16 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

At 8 hours they were just about halfway, which is probably why they decided to turn back. They had enough fuel. Like on 9/11, some flights that were inbound to the US just turned around, but those that were over halfway mainly diverted to Canada. (My grandma's neighbors spent 4 nights in Halifax.)

Right but was it impossible for them to divert to LAX or SFO???

I would lose my fucking mind after a 16-hour flight to nowhere.

Or dulles or bwi two major international airports a 40 mins flight from NY.

[wanderingback]

I think when things like this happens it’s a reminder about all the planning and operations that goes in to flights. It’s not easy to reroute hundreds of flights at the same time.

[aurora]

Feb 17, 2023 18:17:42 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

I think when things like this happens it’s a reminder about all the planning and operations that goes in to flights. It’s not easy to reroute hundreds of flights at the same time.

I might not be able to step back for this perspective after a 16-hr flight back to where I started, but when I stop to think about all the logistics that goes on for air travel it's kind of amazing how well it works.

[Velar Fricative]

Feb 17, 2023 18:17:42 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

I think when things like this happens it’s a reminder about all the planning and operations that goes in to flights. It’s not easy to reroute hundreds of flights at the same time.

My former flight attendant friend said airlines would rather piss off just one plane full of people than risk the diversion to another airport and figure out all the scheduling/crew logistics that would happen as a result if it’s not an emergency (which technically, this was not since the plane itself was fine).

I get that but damn, I’m still hung up on the 16-hour flight to nowhere lol.

[sonrisa]

At that point, I'd want to say "screw it. I guess I live in New Zealand now."

[wanderingback]

Feb 17, 2023 19:19:04 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

Feb 17, 2023 18:17:42 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

I think when things like this happens it’s a reminder about all the planning and operations that goes in to flights. It’s not easy to reroute hundreds of flights at the same time.

My former flight attendant friend said airlines would rather piss off just one plane full of people than risk the diversion to another airport and figure out all the scheduling/crew logistics that would happen as a result if it’s not an emergency (which technically, this was not since the plane itself was fine).

I get that but damn, I’m still hung up on the 16-hour flight to nowhere lol.

Yes exactly.
I’m not understanding why people think going to an airport in DC or Hawaii would be a viable option lol. Imagine if you were planning to visit Cape Town, South Africa and got dropped off in Johannesburg instead? You would be pissed. At least going back to original destination you can have people wait and start over again. Don’t have to worry about what to do with the crew and everything that goes along with it. The power outage has lasted 2 days, so it’s not like they could wait at another airport for 2 hours and then proceed to JFK.

One time when I was living overseas where I lived often had fog. My roommate was coming back from a city 2 hours away and it was a horrible weather day. They spent most of the day in the air going back and forth before they were able to safely land. It definitely happens that people spend hours flying or waiting and get nowhere!

[icedcoffee]

Feb 17, 2023 19:50:02 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Feb 17, 2023 19:19:04 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

My former flight attendant friend said airlines would rather piss off just one plane full of people than risk the diversion to another airport and figure out all the scheduling/crew logistics that would happen as a result if it’s not an emergency (which technically, this was not since the plane itself was fine).

I get that but damn, I’m still hung up on the 16-hour flight to nowhere lol.

Yes exactly.
I’m not understanding why people think going to an airport in DC or Hawaii would be a viable option lol. Imagine if you were planning to visit Cape Town, South Africa and got dropped off in Johannesburg instead? You would be pissed. At least going back to original destination you can have people wait and start over again. Don’t have to worry about what to do with the crew and everything that goes along with it. The power outage has lasted 2 days, so it’s not like they could wait at another airport for 2 hours and then proceed to JFK.

One time when I was living overseas where I lived often had fog. My roommate was coming back from a city 2 hours away and it was a horrible weather day. They spent most of the day in the air going back and forth before they were able to safely land. It definitely happens that people spend hours flying or waiting and get nowhere!

Was it Prague? Because I used to go there every year for work and I shit you not every year for 5 years my flight was cancelled for fog after sitting in the tarmac for an hour. The fog in Prague in October is apparently not to be messed with. LOL. It got to the point where I just planned to stay one extra night at the airport hotel.

[tacokick]

I was on a plane and they diverted us to Newark instead of BWI. We had the option to spend the night and get a flight the next afternoon but we rented a car and drove home. It was a nightmare but I’m glad they didn’t just fly us back to Europe! NZ is even worse!

Oddly, this was the first of two times I unexpectedly had to drive home from Newark.