5 Things to know about bad time to travel

When you think "bad weather" and stacking delayed flights at the airport, you think blizzards, right? Sure, and without any doubt about it, this has been a winter hellacious.

But listen to Air Line Pilots Association Vice-President Captain Sean Cassidy (he is also a veteran pilot with Alaska Airlines); bad weather and horrendous delays can happen anytime, anywhere. "" Don't forget, we have seen snow in Vegas this year ", said the driver." And some of you will recall when the white substance is down in Dallas, just in time for the Super Bowl.

And all in December, January, February and even March can be really terrible, do not think that delays related to weather flight will disappear now that winter is gone. Indeed, the pleasure is just to start.

Why you should worry about: "the total cost of air traffic delays inside for the US economy was as much as $ 41 billion for 2007, including $ 19 billion in fresh airline relief, operation" according to a report from the 2008 Congress of. "In addition, it wastes valuable time of passengers - your time - and the report even puts a dollar figure on that, thus: $ 12 billion.

This is why I put together this list of five things you need to know about spring and summer weather before your next vol. Tip: make sure what your smartphone and iPad are completely loaded before you head to the airport.

For new travel and ideas, see the blog of Rick to farecompare.com.

1. The summer weather can be worse than the winter.

Did you know that? Bad weather leads to 70 per cent of all the delays and according to the Federal Aviation Administration, summers storms are worst. "Unlike winter storms, who take the time to develop and move slowly, summer storms can form quickly, stretch for hundreds of kilometres and travel quickly on large parts of the country." And, of course, as get based on flights, dominoes begin to fall and a reaction to a string of delays affect airports across the country.

If you love numbers, Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the Government is full. During the winter most recent (October 2010 to February 2011), for example, the worst month for delayed weather flights was December, with delays of 36.00%. But may and June have been even worse for the delays and July was almost as bad.

2 Thunderstorms are acrimonious than you think.

For drivers, thunderstorms mean danger, this is why they practice "lateral and vertical avoidance" (in coordination with air traffic controllers) consolidate when they are aware of such conditions. "The nature of the thunderstorm activity, you can fly up to 20 kilometres or a storm, more" said the captain Cassidy. And, Yes, although there are storms in the winter, they are generally much more frequent - and intense - in the summer months.

And don't forget the ugly step-child of storms: turbulence and hail. "Hail competing with turbulence as the greatest danger to storm the aircraft," according to a manual of the FAA for pilots.

3 Monitor the summer ice.

The ice in the summer? Aircraft of the highest caliber and it can occur in the spring and summer. The author of the request a flight instructor blog noted he once again some "serious rime ice" on the edge of a summer thunderstorm. It is located.