Around 20 passengers were removed from a British Airways flight from Florence’s Amerigo Vespucci airport to London City Airport on Aug. 11, to reduce the aircraft's weight before takeoff.
I mean I’m sure that there was a good reason, but planes never take off in tailwinds, they change the active runway and take off in the other direction. Wind direction enroute can be a problem, but I don’t see how that isn’t factored in, you usually get pretty good reports days ahead. And they specifically quoted the temperature.
Commercial planes often take off in mild tailwinds; they’re typically certified for 10-15kt of tailwind. It’s sometimes easier for the airport than re-sequencing all the flights especially if it’s only a mild tailwind.
Florence has hills to one side (the west?) that mean taking off in that direction also carries a performance penalty because you need good engine-out climb rates. So it can be a choice of tailwind or hills.
It’s all statistics. If you’re never getting surprised by the weather, you are probably leaving money on the table. If it’s happening all the time, you’re selling too many seats.
It will also depend on how far out the last seat was sold.
I mean I’m sure that there was a good reason, but planes never take off in tailwinds, they change the active runway and take off in the other direction. Wind direction enroute can be a problem, but I don’t see how that isn’t factored in, you usually get pretty good reports days ahead. And they specifically quoted the temperature.
Commercial planes often take off in mild tailwinds; they’re typically certified for 10-15kt of tailwind. It’s sometimes easier for the airport than re-sequencing all the flights especially if it’s only a mild tailwind.
Florence has hills to one side (the west?) that mean taking off in that direction also carries a performance penalty because you need good engine-out climb rates. So it can be a choice of tailwind or hills.
It’s all statistics. If you’re never getting surprised by the weather, you are probably leaving money on the table. If it’s happening all the time, you’re selling too many seats.
It will also depend on how far out the last seat was sold.