Global warming set to disrupt flights: Columbia University
Global warming could disrupt flights during the hottest times of day at 19 international airports, according to research by Columbia University. The study says that temperatures at the busiest airports could rise by up to 8C by 2100, resulting in greater numbers of days that are hotter than average. New York’s LaGuardia Airport could see the number of such days rise from fewer than 10 in 2025 to 25 per year by 2065. Higher temperatures will mean that planes will have to shed weight, meaning passengers will have to be removed. Planes and airports may also have to be redesigned.

Steadily rising mean and extreme temperatures as a result of climate change will likely impact the air transportation system over the coming decades. As air temperatures rise at constant pressure, air density declines, resulting in less lift generation by an aircraft wing at a given airspeed and potentially imposing a weight restriction on departing aircraft. This study presents a general model to project future weight restrictions across a fleet of aircraft with different takeoff weights operating at a variety of airports. We construct performance models for five common commercial aircraft and 19 major airports around the world and use projections of daily temperatures from the CMIP5 model suite under the RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 emissions scenarios to calculate required hourly weight restriction. We find that on average, 10–30% of annual flights departing at the time of daily maximum temperature may require some weight restriction below their maximum takeoff weights, with mean restrictions ranging from 0.5 to 4% of total aircraft payload and fuel capacity by mid- to late century. Both mid-sized and large aircraft are affected, and airports with short runways and high temperatures, or those at high elevations, will see the largest impacts. Our results suggest that weight restriction may impose a non-trivial cost on airlines and impact aviation operations around the world and that adaptation may be required in aircraft design, airline schedules, and/or runway lengths.