PHL Airport in December

[pad406]

May be worrying about nothing, but after a very near miss flying in Dec 2010, thought it best to ask. One possible route for us this year, Christmas again, is via PHL. Do I need to worry about Airport closure/big delays due to snow?

 

[JustineMarie]

Im going to say no. Of course there's always a chance of snow, but very rarely does it ever come in enough volume, around Christmas, to close the airport. I know most people hate PHL but they really do do a great job of clearing the runways during snow storms.

 

[gpvegas]

There are many factors that come to play in flying during the winter months. You ahve to not only worry about the weather in PHL but you also need to worry about the weather in the city your plane is coming from and going to. I agree PHL does a good job keeping the airport open and runways open. But there are so many other factors that come into play. There really is no reason to worry because it will just make you crazy. Closer to the day if you see something coming, make alternate plans in your head, like other flights you might get on etc.

PHL is very bad for delays and late planes in general during all times of the year.

 

[pad406]

There are 2 reasons tjat I want my first stop in the US. 1st is that we get to clear immigration and customs in Ireland, 2nd is that the time we went in 2010, we very nearly didn't. Out flight to the UK for our MCO connection was cancelled due to snow here and there. We were lucky and got transferred to the Aer Lingus direct flight, but we were the last flight to leave, airport got closed for a day after that. If we don't go through the UK, it will be a lot easier to just wait and get on the flight when it finally leaves. It's unlikely that we'll get that much snow again but possible.

 

[DebbieB]

There are many factors that come to play in flying during the winter months. You ahve to not only worry about the weather in PHL but you also need to worry about the weather in the city your plane is coming from and going to. I agree PHL does a good job keeping the airport open and runways open. But there are so many other factors that come into play. There really is no reason to worry because it will just make you crazy. Closer to the day if you see something coming, make alternate plans in your head, like other flights you might get on etc.

PHL is very bad for delays and late planes in general during all times of the year.

When I used to fly alot for work, I avoid PHL if all possible. Not just winter, anytime. If it rains or is windy, air traffic control slows down the planes going into all the eastern metro cities - PHL, Newark, JFK, LGA. I remember one time I was flying MSP-PHL-PIT on USAirways. It was a bright sunny day at MSP, we boarded our plane and just sat. The pilot came on and told us they were taking us off the plane, air traffic control gave them a 2 hour hold due to winds in PHL. It turned into a 4 or 5 hour delay.

By the time we got there, the terminal was in chaos, people everywhere. I tried to find out if my connection was still there, it was cancelled. The customer service line was a mile long. I found a quiet corner to call customer service, I had gold status at the time. Luckily they told me they had rebooked me on a flight to PIT still there. Finally got home very late at night. Of course, my luggage didn't make it. It was delivered the next day.

 

[Figaro972]

It happened to us last year, we had to drive home after our vacation due to PHL closing... so it probably wont happen again for a while. LOL

 

[MaleficentRN]

PHL is only a 45-ish minutes flight from most of the major mid Atlantic airports. If snow were to close PHL, you can bet they will close as well. And then you can't predict the weather in other parts of the US that would delay incoming planes that would then need to depart to your destination.
If only I could predict the weather four months away. I'd be a kijillionaire!
I would book the flight that works best for you and purchase trip insurance. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

there is no way to know about weather now for winter, I still remember when daughters baton group flight home from Orlando was canceled because of snow. the snow was in Detroit, not Orlando but it still canceled their flight because plane could not get there