Not traffic or ATC staffing: The other reason why flights in Orlando have suffered delays

Orlando International Airport (MCO) is the gateway from which millions of families begin or end their vacations each year at Disney World.

Serving more than 57 million passengers in 2023 and flying to destinations as far as Frankfurt , the airport acts as a major economic driver for the local economy.

One might believe that the abundance of sunshine and good weather that bathes the airport year-round leads flights to being on time, yet last year, a quarter of all flights originating at Orlando International Airport were delayed. What are some factors that cause delays at Florida's busiest airport?

Possible contributing factors

The US state of Florida is an extremely popular tourist and leisure destination due to its humid, subtropical climate. Temperatures in the southern state rarely dip below 50 degrees Fahrenheit (~10 Celsius) during the coldest months (besides occasional bursts of polar air during January and February).

These temperatures are a little misleading, as the weather can be pretty violent. From June to November, Florida is subject to often violent, fast-moving thunderstorms and hurricanes.

Despite this, just around 0.6 percent of all flights were delayed due to weather at Orlando International Airport.

Okay, so what about air traffic control? There is currently a massive air traffic controller shortage in the United States for a multitude of reasons - expensive, grueling training among them - and the problem is only slated to get worse despite the growing number of ATC job openings as people pursue other careers.

No airport in the United States has been unaffected by the shortage.

At large international airports, the lack of controllers is becoming more gradually pronounced, as the number of passengers flying through major airports in the US such as Orlando continues to grow along with the number of flights year over year.

Complicating matters is the fact that the Central Florida TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach Control Facility), responsible for directing flights into airports such as Orlando and Tampa, is in desperate need of modernization.

The last upgrades to the equipment used at the important air traffic control facility was in 1983.

Maintenance of aircraft isn't an issue at Orlando due to the multiple FBO's and maintenance facilities located at the airport, making technical issues with aircraft easier to resolve than at smaller airports.

Despite its close proximity to Cape Canaveral, the place where most of the rockets in the United States get launched from, flights are rarely delayed due to rocket launches, because they're either launched out over the ocean or are too high to have any significant effect on flights by the time the rocket is near MCO.

The airport in the swamp

One important factor to note about Orlando International Airport is its location on prime real estate in a swamp (see the irony?).

When the airport was originally constructed as Pinecastle Army Airfield in 1942, its location on the outskirts of Orlando in a swampy area was seen as beneficial to the Army and later Air Force, as throughout the Cold War the air base was used for reconnaissance and training flights.

Following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, the air base began to transition to a commercial airport, with the first passenger terminals being opened in 1981.

The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, the organization responsible for overseeing MCO Airport, had to build and expand Orlando International Airport around the wetland and swamp areas in order to protect the local wildlife and to make sure that water could drain off the airport apron areas efficiently.

In a state that gets over 50 inches of rain per year, drainage is especially important.

This is precisely what makes the design of Orlando International Airport unique. It features multiple large drainage lakes that also double as habitats for local wildlife. So what's the problem here? Well, the wildlife.

Florida is home to the second-largest population of alligators in the United States, and alligators' natural habitats are wetlands and swamps. Just because MCO airport has isolated ponds doesn't mean there isn't any wildlife such as alligators living in them.

These reptiles occasionally put on a show when they migrate across parts of MCO airport, leading to flight delays.

Yes, that's right. Some delays at MCO airport are actually caused by alligators.

There are a few notable instances of gators going for a stroll at the large Florida airport, such as in 2018, when departures were briefly put on hold due to a reptilian visitor that was caught on camera crossing a taxiway between two drainage ponds.

This forced a Spirit Airlines flight to delay its taxi. After a short wait, the flight arrived at its destination with a minimal delay.

In April of 2022, another gator was spotted crossing a service road close to the tarmac. In spite of these sightings, an Orlando International Airport spokesperson said that sightings of gators at the airport are rare and that out of it's over 11,000 acres of land, just 271 are "covered by water ".

In another notable instance, an aircraft's encounter with an alligator proved deadly. According to the Miami Herald, at around 02:00 local time June 1, 2017, an aircraft hit a 500-pound alligator upon landing at Orlando Executive Airport.

The Piper Navajo that hit the alligator, piloted by Rick Crose, was landing on runway 07/25 when according to an Orlando Executive Airport spokesperson, "...he [the pilot] noticed a large object resting on the center line. As he touched down, he hit the gator..."

After a safe landing that damaged the Navajo and killed the gator, Mr Crose took a picture with the reptile, which was later measured at 11 feet long. In a similar manner to MCO, Orlando Executive Airport is located next to multiple bodies of water, most notably Underhill Lake and Lake Barton.

Animals and planes do not mix well

Naturally, it should come as no surprise that animals, be they alligators or birds, are a serious threat to aviation when they are present in and around airports. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in 2023 there were "about 19,700 [bird] strikes at 780 US Airports"

When ingested into aircraft engines, the bodies of birds and other animals bend, crack, or even break off the fast-rotating fan blades of jet engines along with (in most cases) causing engines to flame out and catch on fire.

Depending on where a bird hits an aircraft, additional damage can be inflicted on the plane's leading edges (slats), cockpit nose, and other surfaces. In 2023, for example, a strike resulted in quite severe damage to the nose cone of an Air France Airbus A350.

For reference, the nose-cone of an aircraft typically houses the radar-dome used by pilots to see the weather ahead of them

The vast majority of flights that encounter bird-strikes and animals while taking off, climbing, or landing, turn out okay - the aircraft returns to its origin airport safety and the passengers deplane. However, there are some notable instances in which bird-strikes have caused near crashes.

Possibly the most famous example is that of US Airways flight 1549. The flight, destined for Seattle (via Charlotte), struck a flock of geese shortly after takeoff from New York LaGuardia Airport on January 15, 2009.

After the impact with the flock of geese, both of the engines on the Airbus A320 aircraft operating the flight flamed out, leaving the aircraft without power.

When he realized that his flight wouldn't make it to any airport safely, the captain of flight 1549 - Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger - made the decision to ditch his aircraft in the Hudson River between Manhattan and New Jersey.

Despite the grim outlook, Captain Sullenberger was able to do what no pilot had done before and successfully ditched a passenger aircraft for the first time without any casualties or injuries onboard the flight in the Hudson River no less.

To recap

One of the reasons why flights get delayed at Florida's busiest airport - Orlando International Airport - is primarily due to wildlife such as alligators traipsing across the airport grounds due to the presence of the many ponds on the airport premises, which is near a swamp and wetland area.