Do airlines have substantially different policies regarding adverse weather conditions?

Upvote:6

Yes.

Different aircraft have different rules. E.g. some are able to cope with more wind/gusts. But also the required runway length may become important. That length changes with weather. With snow or heavy rain the planes may need more runway, which may not be available.

Then airlines have different rules. Manufacturer set a limit, but airlines usually are stricter. Note: such limit depends on aircraft and airline.

Then the aircraft and crew may be a limit. With fog, you may require autolanding (the CAT II/III red signal you may see near runways), but this requires certified aircraft (not just model) and pilots.

Pilots may have different opinions. A pilot new to an airport may prefer to choose an alternate, if the airport is also considered tricky with bad weather.

Operation reasons: a stranded aircraft may be more problematic for some airlines (maybe with home base away), so some airlines may not risk to have a grounded plane.

Operation 2: crew have restriction on number of hours they can operate (day and long term). Delays may block some pilots to fly (or fly back).

Note: you should consider also the route and alternate airports, and restriction on airports. With bad weather, the destination airport may have huge delays, so accepting less planes (and this may depend on routes). Also the delays may affect some restriction on destination airport.

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