As the busy summer travel season approaches next month, there is a high possibility of increased flight delays, as climate scientists and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warn that warmer days will leave many more aircraft stranded on runways and taxiways due to aircraft performance issues caused by the heat.
Aside from sweating buckets and feeling like sticky glue all over, rising temperatures will have an undesirable disruptive influence on the US aviation industry for a variety of reasons.
The faster the atoms and molecules travel as they spread out and rise, the hotter the air. Furthermore, when hotter air expands and becomes less dense, the thinner air makes it more difficult for an airplane to lift off unless additional force is applied.
And, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, there have been days when flying isn’t even an option because the atmosphere is too hot – a phenomenon that climate experts and the administration have been closely monitoring as temperatures continue to rise at an alarming rate, more frequently than ever before.
However, when departures are still possible, rising temperatures necessitate greater power from the engines in order to generate adequate lift for take-off, and airlines will require more fuel than is typically required to transport the same number of passengers and cargo on a routine flight.
If airlines elect to uplift extra fuel where and when they can, the amount of additional fuel computed raises the prospect of airlines placing a limit on the amount of luggage passengers can have or accepting fewer cargo pieces for that specific journey.
Limiting the amount of luggage passengers can carry or rejecting cargo to reduce weight doesn’t seem as viable for airline revenues, but climate scientists and the Federal Aviation Administration suggest that airports in hotter areas, such as Phoenix and parts of Texas, may need new and longer runways soon.
While the last situation is little ludicrous, all three are nevertheless very plausible, despite their rarity. Dr. Jim Kinter, a Professor of Climate Dynamics at George Mason University, believes it is only a matter of time until the exceptional becomes common.
“Although temperatures must be sustained in the triple digits, and other factors such as humidity must also be considered, all of these projections are undoubtedly likely to become more severe and common over time.”
According to Kinter and Arel, grounded planes on taxiways and runways owing to incapacity to take off could be the beginning. They could become more common as early as this summer, with portions of the United States already suffering heat waves with record temperatures.
