FlyOrDelay™

A few FAQs about FlyOrDelay™:

Q: Where does the data come from?

A: It comes from the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) web-site.






Q: Why isn’t my home airport listed?



A: Only delays are listed.  Maybe you are lucky today!







Q: What airports are listed?



A: Any US airport with a delay or closure is supposed to be listed.  I have found the FAA’s list to be hit or miss on smaller airports, but the list for sure should include these airports.








Q: But sometimes I see airports like “CYUL” or even “TAPA” and those aren’t in the U.S.



A: Good eyes.  No, Montreal and St. John’s Antigua/Barbuda are not in the U.S.  Sometimes the FAA reports on non-U.S. delays.  I made a decision to leave them in instead of filtering them out.








Q: My flight is delayed but the airport doesn’t show a delay.  What’s up with that?



A: Only airport delays are listed.  The FAA does not know (or care) about individual flights.








Q: An airport shows it is closed, and when I tap on it, the Reason says it is 'CLSD TO NON SKED ACFT' or something like that. What's up with THAT?!



A: The FAA has recently (c2023) started to report when an airport is closed to certain types of traffic or that it WILL be closed in the future. In the above example, the airport is not accepting unscheduled aircraft, presumably because it is at capacity. Other times you will see that an airport is going to be closed from 10PM to 4AM local time. Although the information is a little confusing, it is accurate. In version 3.0 and forward of the app, these are called 'Partial Closures' and are shown separately.  It's probably a good idea to update your app.








Q: I got a network time out or an FAA site not found message.  FlyOrDelay™ is broken!



A: I didn’t catch your question, but sometimes the FAA site doesn’t respond, sometimes the phone’s carrier is slow, and sometimes it just happens.  Try again.








Q: No, really, I get this message all the time.



A: Sorry for being snippy.  You shouldn’t get this all the time since there are two places from which FlyOrDelay™ tries to get the information.  It could still be the FAA, but if this happens when you can get to other sites over the internet go to the About Us page and send feedback or do it from within the app if you can and would prefer.








Q: The app shows no airport delays, but I really think there should be some.



A: A couple things come to mind :  First, it could be that there really are no airport delays.  It is not always the case that bad weather translates into delays.  Second, it could be that you are running a VPN.  Some VPNs won't route traffic to either the FAA's site or to my site.  Try again in a minute or two, and then email me if the problem persists.








Q: FlyOrDelay seems to be slow and there are a lot of airports I have never heard of listed.



A: Two things are probably going on here:  The first is that something untoward, like a snowstorm or a hurricane, is going on and that is causing a lot of smaller airports to be listed.  The second is that if the FAA does not provide the name of the airport, I have to make a separate network call to get the name, at least until the next version of FlyOrDelay comes out.  So, you should be sure to be current on your version of the app, and I'll keep the updates coming as fast as I can!








Q: If I wait a while on the detail page for a specific airport and then refresh the page, it says “No known delays.”  What’s up with that?



A: You are able to stay on the detail page for an airport and get updated information.  If you went to the page when a delay existed, and the delay subsequently cleared, you’ll see “No known delays.”  Head back out to the main page, and you should see that that airport is no longer listed.








Q: I drill into the detail of a delay and the top field is empty or says something about emailing the developer.  Isn’t that supposed to have the long name of the airport?



A:  Yes it is supposed to.  What you have encountered is a case when the FAA’s feed doesn’t provide that information.  Once I know of airports like that, usually smaller ones, I fix it in FlyOrDelay.  Drop me an email and I’ll add it in.








Q: What do all the rest of the Reasons mean?  For example, what the heck is a “NOTAM”?!



A:  There is a lot of short-hand, isn’t there.  A “NOTAM” is a “Notice to Airmen” and generally is associated with an airport closure or other unusual event.  You may find a full glossary of terms here.