This morning, because of bomb threats, operations were very briefly disrupted at 6 major Canadian airports (Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Winnipeg). It didn’t last long, but it’s a good opportunity to remind you of 2 very basic things related to the situation (or rather flight disruptions in general).
Here’s what happened, but more importantly, what you can learn to be a better traveler.
The incident
NAV Canada, which manages air traffic in the country, indicated that its facilities were targeted by bomb threats early this morning, but that everyone is safe.
Around 8:30 AM, everything was back to normal at the airports.
But:
- There can still be delays today because of this, even in other cities
- There’s a way to make sure delays never make you miss something you can’t miss
The domino effect (or knock-on effect)
Here’s a hard-to-swallow truth for some, even though it should be pretty obvious: planes aren’t parked waiting for you and your little flight of the day, one that’s very insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
There are 100,000 commercial flights every day in the world; yours really isn’t special.
There are way too many people who don’t understand that planes are used multiple times in a day… to obviously reduce plane ticket prices for everyone. Better plane utilization = lower prices!
So the domino effect of a delay can continue to be felt well after the initial cause. That’s normal.
And also, even a delay the day before can create a domino effect that lasts into the next day. Yes, airlines could add a bigger buffer between flights… but then all flight prices would be incredibly higher, obviously. And it’s completely useless for the vast majority of flights where everything goes right.
Seriously, it’s fascinating how many times people say, “The weather can’t be the cause of my flight’s delay, the weather is nice where I am and where I’m going.”
Maybe you just hadn’t ever thought of it; that’s fine. Now you’ll know.
The thing is, your plane might be arriving from an entirely different place! They go literally all over. They don’t just do the one route you booked on an endless loop.
Planes that do only one roundtrip route in a day are extremely rare; those are just the long flights. And even for long flights… the planes can still arrive from another distinct destination where an incident caused a delay, and you just don’t know about it.
Now, that’s not to say airlines are always honest about the reasons for delays. They certainly aren’t!
But that’s a whole other topic.
And anyway, no matter the reason for the delay and without even having to talk to the airline, you can sooooo easily ALWAYS get hotels and meals for free during a delay, as I have over a dozen times myself!
Just pay for your flight with a good credit card with free flight delay insurance. So simple. More details on this soon. And there are currently amazing deals for over $1000 in free travel with great cards; they almost all have flight delay insurance!
Anyway, what’s certain is that looking at the weather only at the time of your flight and only at the 2 airports involved with your flight is really not a good way to determine if a delay was truly caused by the weather.
An airplane that was delayed by this morning’s bomb threats may have had a flight between 2 airports that were completely unaffected later in the day… and the delay of that flight between 2 airports that were completely unaffected is obviously still due to the bomb threats.
The importance of leaving in advance
Commercial aviation is by far the safest mode of transportation in the world (16 times safer than automobiles, according to the last MIT study), because safety always comes first.
That means there are going to be delays. There always have been… and there always will be.
It sucks, of course. But you can complain all you want… they’re still going to happen. Not even 75% of all flights arrive on time with many Canadian airlines.
What you must do instead of complaining (or in addition to, if you prefer😂) is plan accordingly.
By the way… if you never have delayed flights, I’m seriously and honestly very sad for you. It clearly means you don’t travel much. And that’s obviously sad, at least to me!
If you’re delayed, you’re traveling. Traveling is awesome. The journey is the destination. Enjoy all of it. More time in free VIP airport lounges!
So delays can always happen! For your safety.
Now, that means that if you absolutely need to be somewhere by a specific time, there’s a simple solution.
Never leave the same day. Even the day before can be risky, if you have something very vital that you absolutely cannot miss.
Simple. It’s the only way to be (almost) sure. So if you really can’t miss it, leave in advance.
It doesn’t cost anything more in many cases. Often, people have an important event, and then they stay longer. Just move those planned extra travel days after the event to before the event.
If you’re going somewhere just for an event without any extra days, then yes, the tip will cost you more. But if you say you really can not miss the event… you should pay for an extra hotel night and extra meals.
We’re going to have much more details on flight disruptions in a comprehensive guide soon. Including how to book backup flights at the lowest cost, one of the best tips for those who absolutely must be somewhere (although it’s really not as effective as just leaving earlier).
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Summary
The bomb threats in 6 Canadian airports this morning are an excellent opportunity to remind you that the domino effect of flight disruptions is very real (and normal) and that you should never leave at the last minute if you have something very important (that you really can’t miss).
What would you like to know about the bomb threats in Canadian airports? Tell us in the comments below.
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Featured image: Montreal airport (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
