SIOUX CITY, IA -
When American Airlines came to Sioux Gateway
with flights to Chicago, many thought it would bring in more passengers
flying out of Siouxland, but what happens when flights are delayed for
hours?
Passengers were disappointed this morning, when their 6:30 flight was delayed by close to 5 hours.
According to www.flightstats.com, you have a 1 in 4 chance of being delayed flying out Sioux Gateway Airport.
"We're limited in what we can do with a delay
or re-booking to a different flight when you have the two departures a
day," Sioux Gateway Airport Director, Curt Miller, said.
That's because Sioux Gateway only has regional flights coming in and out, and Miller says smaller flights have less priority.
"They're the ones with the least amount of
people, and they have a harder time getting in to and out of the small
airports," he said.
In fact, Miller says not all regional airlines have to report their on-time performance percentages.
"American is one of the only airlines,
because American Eagle is wholly owned, that they report for American
Eagle and their main line, American Airlines. A lot of the other ones
like Delta, United, don't fly the regional service, so when they report
their statistics it's only on their main line," he said.
Pinnacle, a regional airline of Delta which
flew to and from Sioux Gateway last year, is not on the list of airlines
required to report their numbers, which makes comparing Delta and
American Eagle's on-time performances hard to do.
"You have to look carefully at the statistics, to make sure your comparing apples to apples," Miller said.
So why do delays happen in the first place? Miller says the weather plays a big role.
Last night, thunderstorms in Chicago kept the Sioux City bound flight grounded for several hours.
Because last night's flight got in so late,
crew members couldn't fly out at 6:30 this morning, so the flight was
delayed. Crew members need at least eight hours of downtime before they
can fly again.
And most of the passengers agreed, safety comes first.
"You can't control weather, you cant control
mechanical, so at the end of the day, if they need the time, we'll give
it to them," said passenger Rick Bertrand.
"We were planning on being there earlier this morning but we'll make it work," said passenger Shane Susie.
Because of the delays, we decided to post a
question on our Facebook page. We wanted to know, would you rather Fly
out of Sioux Gateway? Or drive to Omaha or Sioux Falls? Weigh in on our
Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/KPTH44 and tell us what you
think.
