Air traffic is real, despite popular belief to the contrary. Seeing no other aircraft in the immediate vicinity when looking out the plane’s window, a typical passenger might think this is impossible. However, if you check the radars, you’ll see that there actually is plane traffic. All of them are demonstrated by the aircraft tracking app Flightradar24.
In the pictures, those yellow airplane icons represent actual airplane movements at the time the screenshots were taken. Those blue pins are airports.
Even if we glance out the plane’s window and don’t see any other aircraft, that doesn’t mean we’re completely alone. When informed that air traffic was to blame for the flight’s delay, some passengers may respond, “wag nyo kami bolahin ang traffic sa ere.” What they don’t realize is that there are literally hundreds upon thousands of planes in the sky all at once. Each plane travels at a speed of 350 to 900 kilometers per hour, so we just don’t notice them.
In order to prevent midair collisions, pilots don’t just take off in any random direction when they get on their plane. They use the “invisible highway in the sky,” as we like to call it. It’s important to note that this “highway” can be found at a variety of elevations. When one strays from the intended path, they risk coming dangerously close to another airplane traveling at speeds of almost 500 kilometers per hour! A plane can’t slow down because it will lose too much altitude and crash to the ground.
What, then, could be causing all this air traffic, other than the sheer number of planes in the sky? The airport’s inability to handle the number of planes taking off and landing is usually to blame, though bad weather or an emergency landing are also common causes.
While airlines and flight crews both try to avoid them at all costs, delays are occasionally unavoidable to prevent even more serious problems that could endanger passengers’ lives.
Looking out the window of a plane is never conclusive evidence that there was no other air traffic. It would be like drawing the conclusion that airplanes are sluggish based solely on ground-level observations.
Don’t assume that traffic is solely a problem on EDSA the next time you hear that air traffic is to blame for a flight’s delay. Even in the clouds, it persists. You may verify this with the flightradar24 app.
Sometimes the reason for the delay is beyond the control of the airline or the pilot. They dislike waiting but understand that it’s occasionally unavoidable.
First love never dies. I fell in love with airplanes and aviation when I was a kid. My dream was to become a pilot, but destiny led me to another path: to be an aviation digital media content creator and a small business owner. My passion for aviation inspires me to bring you quality content through my website and social accounts. Aviation is indeed in my blood and blog!
