May 13. As the busy summer travel season fast approaches next month, there’s a high possibility of increased flight delays as climate scientists and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warn of how warmer days will see plenty more aircraft stranded on runways and taxiways as the heat will impact aircraft performances.
Besides sweating buckets and feeling like sticky glue all over, increasing temperatures throughout the summer season will see quite an unwelcome disruptive impact on the US aviation industry for several reasons.
The hotter the air, the faster the atoms and molecules will move as they continue spreading out and rising. And as the hotter air expands and becomes less dense, the thinner air makes it harder for an aircraft to take-off unless more power is applied.
But when departures are still possible, increasing temperatures require more power from the engines to generate adequate lift for take-off, and airlines will require more fuel than what is traditionally required to lift the same amount of passengers and cargo for a routine flight.
Should the airlines decide to uplift more fuel where and when they can, the amount of additional fuel calculated does awaken the possibility of airlines imposing a limit on the amount of luggage passengers can have or fewer cargo pieces are accepted for that specific flight.
While the last scenario seems slightly absurd, all three are still highly possible despite rarely occurring.
Source: Simple Flying
