Severe weather can disrupt air travel, causing delays, cancellations, and operational backlogs. While Houston Airports prioritizes safety and efficiency, recovery efforts require time and coordination between multiple agencies and partners. Understanding what happens behind the scenes can help passengers set realistic expectations and plan ahead.

Understanding each role

• Houston Airports: Provides safe and clean facilities, maintains runways and taxiways, oversees vehicular traffic flow and communicates updates to airport guests. Houston Airports does not control flight schedules, delays or cancellations.
• Airlines: Manage and adjust flight schedules, cancellations, re-bookings, baggage handling and specific communication with their passengers. They also determine when flights are ready to depart or arrive based on crew availability and aircraft readiness.
• Federal Aviation Administration (FAA): Monitors weather conditions, reopens airspace, clears aircraft for takeoff and landing and oversees air traffic control to ensure safe operations.

Step 1: Safety Inspections and Clearance After the storm, crews inspect runways, taxiways and lighting systems to ensure they are safe and operational. This step includes clearing debris and confirming proper drainage. FAA air traffic controllers must authorize all takeoffs and landings.

Step 2: Resuming Operations Ground crews return to service, focusing first on unloading luggage, refueling planes, and repositioning aircraft to gates. This process takes time, especially when multiple flights are affected, resulting in backlogs that may delay gate assignments for arriving flights.

Step 3: Addressing Backlogs Once ground operations resume, crews work through accumulated tasks, including reuniting passengers with baggage and preparing aircraft for their next departures. Airlines may prioritize certain flights based on passenger volume, crew schedules, and available gates.

What Can Passengers Expect?

• Flight delays: Even after the weather clears, delayed flights must wait for clearance, fueling and available gates.
• Longer waits for baggage: Baggage handling may experience temporary delays as crews process multiple arrivals.
• Overflow vehicle traffic: High passenger volumes can lead to road congestion at terminal curbsides.

How Passengers Can Stay Informed and Prepared

1. Monitor Airline Apps and Websites: Airlines provide the most up-to-date information about flight statuses, rebooking options and baggage updates.
2. Use Cell Phone Lots: To ease congestion, wait in designated cell phone lots until passengers are at the curb with their bags.
3. Follow Active Loading Zone Rules: Be ready to pick up or drop off passengers quickly to keep traffic flowing.
4. Stay Connected with Houston Airports: For the latest updates, check our website, social media and in-terminal monitors.

Patience and preparedness are key: Severe weather recovery takes time, but Houston Airports is dedicated to supporting travelers throughout the process. From providing complimentary Wi-Fi and customer service assistance to offering diverse dining and retail options, we aim to make your experience as smooth as possible.

Houston Airports is committed to maintaining clean facilities, offering world-class customer service and keeping passengers informed. Our custodial teams work around the clock to ensure restrooms and common areas are clean and comfortable. Information counters and customer service representatives are available to assist passengers with questions while our concessions partners work to ensure food and beverages are available for purchase.

Learning from every storm: We take every weather event as an opportunity to evaluate and improve our response. Houston Airports continuously works to streamline operations, deploy additional staff and deliver timely updates to passengers. By focusing on safety, communication and passenger comfort, we strive to exceed expectations—even in challenging conditions.

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