[Anonymous]

[Tappy84]

Hello

I have noticed over the past few days that almost all BA flights LHR-NYC seem to have a delayed departure and even if they do depart on time they seem to be delayed arriving. Does anyone know why this may be and if it is a long term issue or a short term hiccup? Arrival delays regardless of on time departure seems to also be an issue for AA so I’m guessing it may be traffic related in the NYC area perhaps?

Thanks

[VintageKrug]

Things like this can often be down to weather or even a strong jetstream headwind, though the historical on time stats on that route (which include AA codeshares) don’t look great, either:

http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightRating/flightRatingByRoute.do;jsessionid=2EFEE02C62D2F356E5CB0440A3BB3861.web1:8009

[Tappy84]

Thanks VK although I now fear that paying to change to an earlier flight in order to get more of my first evening in NYC may have been in vain.

Surprised to see such a poor OTP for one of their ‘flagship’ routes (if NYC is even considered as one for BA anymore), saying that VS seem to have the same issue so maybe it is often down to matters out of their control.

[wishee71]

It will be combination of jetstream and weather. They “space” landing slots further apart in adverse weather and that combined with slower crossings due to jstream means delays. So rather than take off as scheduled they wait for “clearance” from NYC control. It costs money to have them in the air so they delay departure. It is a real pain coming back too if you want to get any sleep, got back in a ridiculous 5hrs 20 last week!

[VintageKrug]

I think it probably is external factors; both airports are at capacity and winds play a big part especially thius time of year.

If you really must get into town for drinks etc. I have found BA’s CWLCY service negates delays on landing; from the stop to getting into my limo (without checked luggage) is rarely more than 7 minutes as you arrive as a domestic passenger.

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/cwlcexp/public/en_gb

[Tappy84]

Ah I see, thanks for the explanation. If the jetstream/weather causes issues leading to delays I imagine that this will be seasonal?

[wishee71]

Correct Tappy84

[Tappy84]

I did check that out VK but I’m not too keen to fly all the way across the pond on an A318 (I’m not the best flyer on small jets) and LCY is quite a pain for me to get to. I have however chosen EWR instead of JFK hoping that there will be fewer international arrivals so less of a wait at immigration and a shorter journey time into the city, I may be proved wrong though.

[RichHI1]

As a frequent traveler to JFK I subscribe free to an alert service which notifies you when weather or other matters affect JFK, traffic patterns, air traffic as well as road and public transport links to Manhattan. British subscribers would need to opt for email notification as only US wireless carriers are supported but works great with Blackberry and Iphone.

http://www.airportinfoalerts.com/usersubscribe.aspx?typ=jfk

There are also links for EWR, LGA and other Port Authority airports.

JFK can get almost as tied up as Heathrow in peak periods which can cause taxiway and gate delays, additionally it is not unusual to get held at LHR due to atlantic congestion at certain times of the day as transoceanic air traffic control is still fairly primitve and uses fixed lanes with lengthened spacing when not under direct control. Hopefully this will improve as technology available and regulatory bodies align.

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