With the onset of cold weather, flight delays have become more frequent, leaving the most unpleasant impressions on air travel. What are the reasons for such failures and what does the passenger have in this case?

In winter, flying conditions become much more difficult. Snowstorms, freezing rain, fog, runway icing, overtime for snowplow work and accidental damage to aircraft by the same equipment, queues to pour anti-icing fluid and warm up aircraft frozen in parking lots are just some of the seasonal features of aviation. .

“It’s clear, but why should we, the passengers, suffer?” – anyone traveling by air will tell. And, of course, he will be right. For these reasons, air carriers provide all possible support in these cases, putting the main premise of aviation – flight safety – at the forefront.

SCAT Airlines has shared details about the causes of the outages and the options available to passengers in these cases.

The first thing I want to say is that no airline wants to change the current schedule, even for a minute. The airline, finding itself in such a situation, in fact becomes its hostage. Aircraft operating flights are linked in a chain of flight schedules. That is: the plane takes off, for example, in the direction of Almaty – Aktau, after performing this flight, it undergoes pre-flight preparation, cleaning, loading food and receiving passengers from the next flight and is already flying, for example, in the direction of Aktau – Yerevan and so on. SCAT airlines operate an average of 100 flights per day. And the slightest delay on one of the intervals leads to flight failures on at least three consecutive routes.

In most cases, the main reasons for delays are late arrival of the aircraft (over 70%) and adverse weather conditions (around 13%). There are also frequent delays related to the activities of airports and airport services (over 14%). The lowest percentage concerns delays due to technical reasons (1.5%) and waiting for passengers in transit (1.5%).

On international charter routes, the change of schedule entails the loss of authorization to fly over the territory of the States crossed by the route. That is, if the flight did not take place on time, the airline must request permission to fly again. For example, flying from Astana to Phuket, the plane flies over the territories of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. If the air carrier has to carry out an aircraft replacement, the authorization to fly over the territories of the States must also be requested again. Obtaining these documents also requires additional time and costs. In addition to receiving slots for arrival from the host airport. The plane can only land at the airport at the time agreed in advance.

Thus, it becomes clear that a small time shift on some of the earlier segments of the aircraft’s route becomes the cause of an overall change in the flight schedule.

Very often, airlines hear the phrase: “Why don’t you have rescue planes?” »

They are. When a schedule failure occurs, the airline mobilizes all existing reserves, optimizes the schedule and finds an opportunity to provide backup aircraft. However, the process of providing a backup aircraft also takes time. In some cases, transporting a reserve aircraft can take several hours, and for long-distance tourist destinations, the process, including obtaining permits, providing airport slots, travel time and other components, can take a day or more.

The airline provides everything necessary for passengers (within airport waiting conditions), despite the fact that the vast majority of flight delays are not the fault of the airline.

In the event of disruptions to charter tourist destinations, the airline, in conjunction with the tour operator, may consider extending the trip, subject to availability, or offer the possibility of compensating for the missed vacation time. In order to implement either option, the passenger should contact the travel agency where the package was purchased.

“In conclusion, I would like to note that SCAT is continuously working on an expansion program for its own aircraft fleet. The airline’s current fleet is 31 Boeing and CRJ aircraft. The airline’s aircraft will be replenished with two more new aircraft.Thus, the airline’s transport capacity will increase, which, undoubtedly, will have a positive effect on the punctuality of flights.The main priorities of the airline airline are flight safety and our passengers. We are grateful to all of you for your choice, support and understanding,” notes SCAT.