Flying over Ivan?

[roserae]

Just wondering about our flight to Orlando on Friday the 17th. We are due to connect in Houston and then fly to Orlando. Right now they are forecasting Ivan to be in Alabama by Friday, but it keeps slowing down...so who knows? Anyway, what do airlines do when a hurricane is in the path of their flight? Do they fly around? Over? Cancel? Anyone have any experience with this? Thanks for any help.

 

[NotUrsula]

Depending on the configuration of the storm and its' location in relation to the air route, the aircraft may go over it or around it.
Flights will normally only cancel if the takeoff or landing airport is within the tropical-storm-force wind area.

 

[roserae]

Thank you, that was my final concern with Ivan. Looks like it won't be an issue...whew.

 

[Sammy]

Last September, we were due to fly to MCO from NH when hurricane (? name) was coming up the east coast. The plane flew waaaaaaay out over the ocean and around the hurricane to get us to MCO. We were far enough out that we could not see any lights at all from the coastline.....this was a night flight and it was soooooo dark. Pretty freaky actually! Anyway....we arrived at MCO on time and it was a great flight!

 

[inkkognito]

We flew to MCO on the first flight in last Monday. They had just reopened after Frances, and the storm was still in the vicinity. I think we went over it...not a bump to be felt! I was glad because I am a paranoid flyer, and I was expecting a roller coaster. We actually had more bumps coming home, as we went up through the usual FL evening thunderstorms.
Barb

 

[Harambe]

Thanks! YOu've made me feel better! We're flying out Wednesday afternoon, landing in MCO at around 6pm. I'm hoping that it isn't too bumpy!

 

[Hockeychic]

I fly out at 8:30AM Wed morning set to arrive at MCO at 11:00AM.

I also hate to fly so I am hoping for a smooth Ivan free flight.

My airline (SW) hasn't confirmed if it will be flying or not but my fingers are crossed.

Have a safe flight everyone!!!

 

[DJT]

We're flying out of Louisville at 6:30 p.m. Friday. I just saw the projected path for Ivan this morning and it looks like we will be flying right through it on the way to Florida. I'm not happy about this at all. I don't like to fly anyway and the thought of flying through the remnants of a hurricane makes me very uneasy.

 

[seashoreCM]

As far as I know, commercial planes always go around a storm if it is still a hurricane or even if the winds have just died down to tropical storm levels.

Even in the 30,000 to 39,000 foot region where jets fly, there is considerable turbulence in hurricanes.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[NotUrsula]

A few weeks ago DS and I flew through the path of the remnants of Charley, while it was still at TS strength. We hit some rather nasty turbulence, and the pilot announced that he was going to try going to ~41,000 ft to go over it so that we would not have to go WAY around. It worked; we escaped the turbulence after 10 minutes, and after about 25 minutes he came on to announce that he had taken us back down to 38,000 ft.

It was a night flight, and some of the people around us were looking a little green from the turbulence at first. DS looked at the lady next to him and said, "It's OK, just pretend you're on Space Mountain!" I'm not sure that the poor woman appreciated that.