A Delta Air Lines flight from Accra, Ghana, to New York wound up in the Azores, Portugal. A Southwest flight from Fort Myers, Florida, to Pittsburgh that went to Baltimore. A LATAM flight from Miami to Santiago, Chile, landed instead in Panama City.
Flying is usually the fastest way to get somewhere. But if something goes wrong during your flight, you could wind up hundreds or even thousands of miles away from where you’re trying to go with unnecessary time added to your trip.
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Flight diversions are a frustrating reality of air travel, especially at certain times of the year, but they never happen out of spite – it’s pretty much always because diverting is the safest thing to do.
Here’s everything a traveler needs to know about diversions and some expert tips on handling the situation if it happens to you:
Why do flights get diverted?
Off the top of my head, I can think of at least two flights I have been on that got diverted. The first was on JetBlue, heading from Cancún, Mexico, to New York. Severe weather in New York closed the airports, and my flight wound up landing in Baltimore. More recently, I was on a puddle jumper in Puerto Rico from Culebra to San Juan, and we had to make an extra stop in Ceiba to pick up a commuting crew member.
According to Ahmed Abdelghany, associate dean for research and a professor of operations management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, weather is an extremely common reason for diversion, but crew issues, not so much.
“The common reasons are weather and mechanical problems and medical issues – unexpected serious medical issues for passengers or crew,” he told me.
Reg Wright, CEO of Gander International Airport Authority, told me that unruly passengers can also lead to flight diversions.
Gander is a large airport in a fairly remote part of Newfoundland and is a common diversion point for transatlantic flights that experience trouble. It’s especially famous as the setting for the Broadway musical “Come from Away,” based on the true story of 38 flights with thousands of passengers and crew that landed there after U.S. airspace closed on Sept. 11, 2001.
According to Wright, about one in 15,000 transatlantic flights these days wind up having to make a pit stop at Gander. In fact, he said, an American Airlines jet made a stop there just hours after we spoke.
How long do flight diversions usually last?
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Flight diversion timing is extremely unpredictable and is largely based on what led to the rerouting in the first place.
“Every situation is different,” Abdelghany said. “If this is the end of the day, you might end up sleeping at the airport” if nearby hotel rooms are already booked up.
Diversions for an onboard medical issue can be handled fairly quickly, while a mechanical problem could result in a longer delay – especially if a replacement aircraft is required, or if the crew runs out of duty hours while waiting for the issue to be fixed.
A recent Delta flight from Accra, Ghana, to New York was forced to divert to a small airport in the Azores due to a mechanical issue, and passengers reportedly wound up spending about 12 hours on the ground with little in the way of refreshments while waiting for a new plane and crew to arrive.
Abdelghany said when a flight is forced to divert to an airport that its airline doesn’t usually serve, as was the case in Delta’s diversion to the Azores, it can be even more complicated for the company and frustrating for passengers.
Wright said that Gander, which had its peak popularity before the jet age when prop planes required stops to refuel on trans-oceanic flights, is better equipped than many remote airports to handle diversions.
“The advantage we have in Gander is we have a facility here that we still maintain that was built for aviation as it existed in 1959,” he said. “We have the international lounge, which is a sterile space that’s not quite Canada. That facility has capacity for upwards of 1,000 people under fire codes, and there’s washrooms there.”
Wright said passengers tend to appreciate the ability to stretch their legs during a long diversion.
Will I ever get to my destination?
Yes.
Airlines do not want you to get stranded any more than you want to be stuck somewhere; they always work to get you reaccommodated.
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But, Abdelghany said, the carriers can be constrained in how quickly they can provide that accommodation in some cases.
“As passengers you don’t know the big picture,” he said, pointing out that severe weather could disrupt hundreds of flights, and crews have strict limits on how long they’re allowed to work between mandatory rest periods.
Sometimes, passengers choose to make their own arrangements. He said he was once flying to Orlando, Florida, and his plane got diverted to Miami. Rather than wait for the airline to rebook them, he and some fellow passengers just rented a car and drove the final leg.
Am I owed anything if my flight gets diverted?
Department of Transportation regulations do not require compensation or other accommodation for diversions. Weather diversions are typically considered uncontrollable by airlines, though mechanical diversions may fall under the category of controllable delays, in which case the DOT’s consumer dashboard outlines the commitments each carrier has made for reaccommodation.
Keep in mind that airlines are unlikely to leave you stranded somewhere, even if their policy doesn’t officially cover diversions. Reporters like me would make it a headache for any company that totally abandoned its passengers.
When my family and I were sent to Baltimore on the way home from Cancún, JetBlue chartered buses to get us the rest of the way to New York (about a three-hour ride).
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What should I do if my flight gets diverted?
Wright said it’s important to remember that, while diversions are frustrating, they’re not the end of the world.
“Take stock, calm down, maybe have a bite to eat … Airlines are going to do their very best to get you moving so soon as they humanly can,” he said. “There’s a bit of novelty in it, so long as everyone is safe and well, you can always put a thumbtack in a part of the world you probably didn’t intend to see … We all need to cultivate an adventurous spirit sometime.”
Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in New York. You can reach him at [email protected]
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Category: WHY
