Airlines, airports and air traffic controllers prepare for the mess. But that is not too complicated accordingly.
Global aviation systems are deeply interconnected and are responding to disruptions that are as severe as the blackouts at London's Heathrow Airport, the global hub. For airlines, even a small number of flights could exercise.
Heathrow was closed after a fire broke out at a nearby power generation engine on Friday, facing tens of thousands of travellers and dozens of airlines cancelled, re-routed flights and a series of schedule changes.
“They are thinking not just in one day, but in terms of recovery,” said Dr. Michael McCormick, professor of air traffic management at Embry-riddle Aeronautical University, who managed federal airspace in New York during the September 11 terrorist attacks. “They have to see where the bags, aircraft and aircraft passengers need to be tomorrow, the next day, the next day.”
When a crisis occurs, the airline's network operations center is overdrive. The center is an airline neurological center. Typically, large, quiet and safe rooms have power backups and protection against harsh weather and disasters.
On major airlines, operation centers are located around the clock, using teams that monitor weather, manage planes, air traffic control communications, schedule crews and more.
It can surgically handle minor confusion. You can replace a sick pilot or replace a broken plane with another pilot. But major disruptions like London's Heathrow Airport require complicated plans to be scrapped and reworked, taking into account the wide range of restrictions.
Because planes have different numbers of people they can carry and the distance they can fly, small planes used for shorter domestic flights cannot be easily exchanged for larger flights used on longer flights. They also need to be properly fueled, properly balanced in weight and adjusted if the plane is rerouted.
Regulations require that pilots and flight attendants are not overworked and are allowed to rest after an hour. If the flight takes too long to depart, the crew can time out. If the scheduler reassigns the crew, then the pilot and flight attendant must consider where they need it.
Of course, airlines do not operate on their own. As plans change, you will need to work with airport and air traffic control personnel who may have limited resources to accommodate the changes. Airports have a limited number of flights they can receive, as well as in some cases the types of planes they can safely accept. In the United States, for example, many air traffic control towers have long suffered a lack of controllers.
