Aviation continues to baffle me – this year, why any sane person would ever want to invest in, or run, an airline, given the artillery of misfortune ranged against carriers who simply want to get people from A to B and make a bit of money along the way. 

From the Beast from the East to the drone that stole Christmas, aviation has had to contend with a ridiculous spectrum of challenges in 2018 – and has also managed to annoy a lot of people with poor behaviour. But the UK continues to benefit from the most flourishing and best-value air travel opportunities in the world. Let’s see if it continues after Brexit. Meanwhile, here are some highs and lows.

Best response to an aviation crisis

The train operators London North Eastern Railway (LNER) and Thameslink, which offered complimentary transport to passengers caught up in the drone nonsense at Gatwick.

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LNER tweeted: “Has your flight between London #GatwickAirport and Edinburgh been cancelled today? If so, you can use your flight tickets to travel on our trains today for FREE.”

Thameslink followed up by saying: “If you are travelling to Edinburgh and you have an airline ticket you can travel on our services to London King’s Cross/London St Pancras, Stevenage or Peterborough to connect with @LNER services, for free.”

Passengers who availed themselves of the deal ended up in profit, since easyJet or British Airways will refund the fares for the lost journey.

Best missed connection

Avianca, from the Galapagos via Guayaquil to Bogota and Heathrow. When it was clear that the inbound flight to the Galapagos was going to be three hours late, staff in one of the most remote “out-stations” handled the rearrangments brilliantly – organising a hotel, transfers, meals and new flights without fuss. Or fee.

Cheapest flight (domestic) 

Stansted-Belfast International, Ryanair, £9.99 (3.2p per mile). This is less than the amount Ryanair was obliged to pay in Air Passenger Duty, let alone all the other costs involved in running an airline and flying someone 320 miles.

Most expensive flight (domestic)

Manchester-Edinburgh, Flybe, £102 (55p per mile). No complaints, it was a “distress purchase” two hours before departure and I am glad it was available.

Cheapest flight (international) 

Stansted-Luxembourg, Ryanair, £9.99 (3.3p per mile). What are they smoking at Ryanair HQ in Dublin?

Most expensive flight (international)

Palma-Gatwick, £242 (26p per mile). Notable for easyJet selling me a ticket one moment and then telling me the next that I could not check in because the flight was potentially oversold.

Lowest number of fellow passengers 

Seven, on Thomas Cook from Gatwick to Palma and Flybe from Manchester to Southend, but Thomas Cook wins because it was a plane with a capacity of nearly 300. That flight, by the way, cost £28, and was almost a candidate for cheapest at 3.6p per mile.

Most surprisingly cheap flight

British Airways from Venice to Gatwick, booked the night before travel for €46.

Shortest flight

Belfast City-Manchester, 171 miles.

Longest flight

Perth-Heathrow, 9,009 miles. Qantas demonstrated with its new nonstop from the Western Australian capital to London that ultra-long-haul flight is tolerable in economy if the product – from entertainment to meals – is well thought-out and executed. The London-Sydney run has no fears for me, just a quiet yearning to see the places seven miles below.

Oddest flight 

UTAir from Volgograd to Sochi. I took this Russian domestic link shortly before Christmas, and was surprised by three things.

First, it was a candidate for best-value non-UK flight, at just £46 for a two-hour-plus hop. Next, it boarded, taxied and took off in the sort of snowstorm that would halt British airports for a week. Finally, there was exactly no service at all on board – nothing given away or sold, just a strange, Russian sense of calm.

May all your departures in 2019 be calm, punctual, comfortable and safe.

The same storm that diverted dozens of flights and cancelled hundreds more between Texas and Minnesota Wednesday was moving east, bringing severe rain storms to the Southeast and snow to the northern Great Lakes.

On Thursday, more than 300 flights were cancelled in Dallas, planes were parked on the tarmac in Chicago for more than an hour and nearly a quarter of all flights in Houston were delayed.

The storm stretched from the Canadian border all the way down to the Mexican border, ABC News meteorologist Max Golembo reported. There were blizzard-like conditions from Kansas to Minnesota and strong storms with heavy rain from Texas to Illinois.

Heavy rainfall will create the possibility of flash flooding between New Orleans and Atlanta with damaging winds possible through the Southeast.

Rain isn’t always problematic, but lightning and wind can snarl airport traffic for extended periods of time.

Dallas Love Field suspended operations for a brief period on Wednesday when lightning was striking near the airport.

Heavy rain is likely along the Interstate 95 corridor from Boston down to Washington on Friday, with snow further to the north.

None of the major U.S. carriers anticipated widespread cancellations, but officials said delays could plague the Southeast and some of the East Coast on Thursday and Friday.

Holiday travel headaches continue for travelers at select airports across the country.

Cancellations and flight delays aren’t as severe or widespread as they were in the days before Christmas but trouble spots remain due to weather.

Flight tracker FlightAware says 307 U.S. flights have been canceled and an additional 863 have been delayed.

Travelers headed to, through or from Dallas will be affected the most. American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have major operations in Dallas. 

Dallas was hit with severe storms on Wednesday, with the weather bad enough to force the cancellation of a college bowl game, and airlines are still playing catch up.

Airlines have canceled 104 flights and delayed an additional 41 to and from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Friday, according to FlightAware. American, which has a huge hub at the airport, accounts for most of the cancellations and delays.

American had 85 flights diverted late Wednesday and early Thursday due to the weather. Flights to and from the airport were close from 3 p.m. Wednesday until early Thursday morning, according to American spokesman Ross Feinstein.

He said the airline’s operations in Dallas should return to normal Friday afternoon.  

 At smaller Dallas Love Field, home to Southwest Airlines, three flights to and from the airport have been canceled. 

At Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, home to another American Airlines hub, 28 flights have been canceled and an additional 22 are delayed, according to FlightAware.

Atlanta and Charlotte are showing the most delays.

More: Holiday travel: 6 things to know if you haven’t flown in a year

Airlines waive fees ahead of winter storm

The holiday travel rush continues through Sunday, Jan. 6.

Rockville, MD, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — According to a new report of Fact.MR, ground support equipment (GSE) will witness a rise in demand owing to lucrative future prospects of the airline industry, with proliferation in air travel passengers and cargo volumes. Emerging markets are expected to present huge opportunities for growth of the ground support equipment market in the near future. 

Demand drivers of the ground support equipment market are directly linked with performance of the airline sector worldwide, and benefit from increasing new and used equipment sales. Corresponding demand for specific types of ground support equipment continues to vary based on dynamics of the regions. 

Promising Outlook of Global Airline Industry to Influence Demand for GSE 

Demand supply trends of the ground service equipment are directly influence by growth of the airline industry worldwide. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates net profit of the global airline industry to exceed US$ 38 Bn in 2018, witnessing an improvement of more than US$ 34 Bn in 2017. Improved efficiency and robust demand continue to aid airlines in enhancing the net profitability of the industry at a global scale, despite increasing costs. 

According to IATA, 2018 is likely the fourth succeeding year of sustainable profit margins, with an ROI of nearly 10%, which exceeds the average cost of airline industry’s capital – 7.4%. Such impressive growth of the airline industry across the globe alludes positive impacts on the ground service equipment market at present as well as in the foreseeable future. 

The number of air travel passengers has witnessed a significant increase in the recent past, with IATA estimating the number to exceed 4 Bn in 2018. Increasing number of air passengers further results in demand for more aircrafts to cater transit and commute requirements, which in turn will continue to pave lucrative avenues for growth of the ground support equipment market.

Healthy Future Prospects for Secondary Ground Support Equipment Market 

The market for used as well as new ground support equipment continues to witness promising growth, according to the Fact.MR study. While aspects that underpin use of ground support equipment for wide body aircrafts allude at higher intensity of influence than those that uphold use in narrow body aircrafts. Expansion in number of airports and remarkable increase in passenger traffic are key factors that have driven the demand for ground support equipment in wide body aircrafts. 

Continued profits and growth in commercial aviation for international and domestic airlines worldwide, along with opportunities in the private sector, have been driving the demand for secondary ground support equipment. While larger airlines continue to influence purchases of secondary ground support equipment, small scale aviation industries are driving sales of a blend of used and new equipment. 

OPINION:  I’ve become an abject pessimist when it comes to travel. Things go wrong so often that I’ve come to expect it.

It doesn’t take a bizarre event like the recent shutdown at London’s Gatwick Airport to prove that airline passengers are at the mercy of events over which they have no control.  

It happens to me all the time. And while it’s possible that I’m jinxed, more likely it’s just the way things are. So many people are travelling that airlines and airports can’t cope.

On a trip last month, my wife and I allowed 2½ hours between arriving at Sydney and catching an onward flight to Canberra – ample time to have a drink and something to eat.

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Fat chance. Our Qantas flight from Wellington left 90 minutes late – I can’t remember the excuse, and I don’t believe them anyway – and we ended up having to rush lickety-split between terminals to make our connection.

Ten days later we were back at Canberra Airport for a Tiger Air flight to Melbourne. I know now, although I didn’t then, that savvy Australian travellers avoid Tiger Air. As well they might.

First, the inbound plane was late arriving, supposedly because of bad weather at its point of origin. Strangely, we didn’t hear of other flights from the same city being delayed.

Then, just as we were expecting a boarding call, we learned that one of the plane’s tyres had to be replaced, and the new one had to come from Melbourne.

Several hours passed before I watched a pair of engineers fit the new wheel. But by that time, the flight crew had exceeded their permitted hours and a replacement crew had to be flown in.

Long story short: we sat in the airport for 10 hours, eventually arriving in Melbourne after 11pm. By the time we got to our Airbnb accommodation, it was well after midnight.

In pitch darkness, we spent 10 minutes trying to get into the wrong property. The occupants of an apartment building in St Kilda are probably still wondering what lunatic was banging on doors and pressing buzzers at dead of night.

My narrative now shifts to Christchurch, where I recently flew for what should have been a cruisy one-day return trip from Palmerston North.

On arrival at the airport in Palmy I drove around the car park for 20 minutes because there were no vacant spaces. A helpful man directed me to a long-term parking area, but I couldn’t get there because the terminal had been evacuated due to a fire alarm and my way was blocked by fire engines.

I ended up parking on a residential street more than five minutes’ walk away, and barely made my plane. You gotta laugh, as they say.

That evening, we were 15 minutes into the return flight from Christchurch when the captain announced we were turning back because of a warning light.

It soon became clear that none of us would be getting to Palmy that night. We spent more than an hour and a half milling around while four Air New Zealand staff arranged motel accommodation in Christchurch.

They did their best, but it was hard to avoid the feeling that they weren’t prepared for this sort of contingency. Anyone would think it never happened.

There was no seating, so it was no surprise when a passenger collapsed and was taken away in an ambulance. Another woman with a walking frame somehow managed, admirably, to stay upright.

I was put in a motel on the far side of the city, so distant from the airport that it felt like I was halfway home already. Most of us went to bed without dinner, although a fellow passenger had an apple, which he ate while having a bath.

I eventually got home at 3pm the next day after flying back to Palmerston North via Auckland. As I said, you gotta laugh.

I relate these experiences not because what happened to me was outrageous or even exceptional. I hear of people being subjected to far greater inconvenience by airlines that left them in the lurch and seemed unaccountable for their failings.

The common reaction from passengers is one of helpless resignation. Most people accept that the contract they enter into when they buy a plane ticket is overwhelmingly loaded in the airlines’ favour. They might get you to your destination on time, but if not … well, tough luck.

What struck me in both Canberra and Christchurch was how my fellow passengers stoically shrugged and accepted their plight as if it were the new normal – which, of course, it is. But I can’t help wondering whether airlines might sharpen their performance if people weren’t so infuriatingly good-natured.

By Greg Fishel, WRAL Chief Meteorologist

Wind and rain could make holiday travel difficult Friday, but the wet weather will also bring warmer temperatures.

This weekend could break the record for wettest year; the record stands at 59.14 inches in 1996, but so far there’s been 58.52 inches of precipitation in 2018.

WRAL Chief Meteorologist Greg Fishel said spotty showers could begin Thursday afternoon and the rain will increase in intensity after midnight.

“Fortunately, the worst part of this system, the really vigorous part, is going to bypass us to the north and west,” he said. “Still, the system is going to impact us.”

The system has the potential to pour 1.5 to 2 inches on the Triangle and at least a half-inch across the rest of the state.

The good news is that the rain will also bring a little relief from winter, as temperatures on Friday rise to 69 degrees in Raleigh on Friday.

“We’re going to be windy and warm and up near 70 and it’s not going to feel like winter,” Fishel said.

Rain showers on Saturday will be limited before rain continues on Sunday.

“Saturday now looks dry for most of the area, even though we’ll have a fair amount of cloud cover,” Fishel said.

That moisture is expected to stick around early next week, bringing a rainy start to the new year.