Passenger claims notice wasn't given on Houston flight that was diverted for airshow rehearsals
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Pilots practicing for the "Wings over Houston" airshow at Ellington Field, nearly ten miles from Hobby Airport, caused disruption for travelers on Thursday.
Jeffery Rosenberg was on a direct Southwest Airlines flight from Burbank to Houston on Thursday afternoon and said they were minutes from landing at Hobby when the pilot announced a diversion due to nearby airshow rehearsals.
"I thought they were joking or something very serious was going on. I just couldn't believe it," he said.
Rosenberg says he was caught off guard because he and other passengers were not told ahead.
"It just seemed really weird. We were getting ready to land, so there was sort of that lack of communication and planning," he said.
Eyewitness News contacted Southwest Airlines to find out if there was a plan for diverted flights and if passengers were notified.
They wouldn't answer those questions.
In a statement to ABC13, the airline said, "Four were diverted yesterday. Considering that's less than .3% of our daily operation there, it's not something that warrants a schedule adjustment."
All flights eventually reached Houston, including Rosenberg's, which reportedly arrived two hours late.
"I actually switched flights from United to Southwest so I could make it to this family event," he said. "I changed a lot of plans."
In a statement from Hobby Airport, a spokesperson said one of the runways is under construction.
"Flights must come in and out of another runway, which is in the flight path of that airspace that was temporarily restricted while the Blue Angels did their thing," the spokesperson said.
The airport and the airline knew this well before these flights took off.
Rosenberg is glad to be home, but he feels the frustration could've been avoided had he known there would be a delay.
"It's practice for an airshow. You would think they would plan that. So, something went wrong somewhere, there's no question," he said.
Read Hobby Airport's full statement:
I learned that the FAA has issued an Art Traffic Control Advisory for today because of the Wings Over Houston Air Show that is happening at Ellington Airport (EFD).
For context, Wings Over Houston is a private event at EFD.
The FAA noted that rehearsals are happening today at Ellington, and most flights are in about 15-minute holding patterns as a precaution.
But it sounds like Mr. Rosenberg's flight may have been attempting to land when the U.S. Navy Blue Angels were conducting their practice flights--- which come with significant yet temporary airspace restrictions.
Normally, in years past, even with the Blue Angels or the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds rehearsing, planes can still land at Hobby. But one of the runways at HOU is under construction... which means flights must come in and out of another runway... which is in the flight path of that airspace that was temporarily restricted while the Blue Angels did their thing.
Context: Ellington Airport and Hobby Airport are less than 10 miles away.
Please let Mr. Rosenberg we understand and appreciate his frustration, however the activity is happening around Hobby Airport, and we must follow FAA restrictions. Our sincere hope is he can make it back to Houston safe and sound.
Read Southwest Airlines' full statement:
We have around 160 Thursday and Friday flights at Houston Hobby and a grand total of four were diverted yesterday, all of which later arrived. Considering that's less than .3% of our daily operation there, it's not something that warrants a schedule adjustment... which would likely mean canceling flights.
We apologize to the Customers affected for their inconvenience with the diversion, but our operational teams wouldn't want to make an unnecessary decision that could result in Customers not reaching their destination by end of day.
For today/this weekend, our teams will continue tactically managing these brief disruptions.
