IFATC at Baltimore-Washington Airport

NOTE: This is just to let IFATC know something about BWI
Right now at BWI in IF, departures are out of 33L. Please try to avoid this, runway 33L is only used for arrivals, not departures. The departing runway should be 28. I am not trying to be mean or tell anyone how to do their job, I just want to maintain realism.
Thanks,
HiFlyer

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We understand and respect the real world procedures at airports. But keep in mind the traffic volume at BWI during a FNF event is not realistic and therefore we need to adjust to provide a service to the pilots. We hope you understand. This holds true for all airports.

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OK, thank you for the response! I’m just getting too excited having an event at my home airport :D

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I would like to respectfully disagree. I think that realism should still be pursued to an extent to where certain real life procedures at airports, such as runway 33L are used for arrivals only. Just my 0.02 cents.

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But in some cases, real life procedures are incredibly inefficient, such as at EGLL where one rwy is used for takeoff and one is used for arrivals due to noise abatement. In IF, this just clogs the airport.

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You are right about EGLL, but at BWI IRL, this procedure is actually quite efficient.

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I would prefer not to put pilots in a situation where a realistic runway choice forces them to sit on the ground for an additional 30 minutes. The approach controllers do work with tower and ground to plan out the flow. I believe 28 is already being used for departures and 33L for inbound but if there is a gap in the approach flow there is nothing wrong with getting someone off the ground using 33L.

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Now that’s definitely a fair point considering EGLL is one of the busiest airports in IF, however KBWI is not nearly as busy. Now yes, today is an FNF which means things are very busy but I think that even then, there should still be some level of realism. Not saying the IFATC controllers are doing anything wrong. It’s just the way I feel about it.

But in this case, many of the pilots do not understand the real world procedures, or aren’t aware of them. While I am not familiar with BWI’s layout, I know that people will wonder if they’re being sent to a runway across the airport when there is an empty one right next to their gate.

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OK, I understand your point, but 33L (where they should not take off) is not near any gates. 28 is much closer to all gates.

I forgot to mention this, but 33R is usually only used for GA departures/arrivals, I have never seen a commercial plane use it.

But with the amount of traffic, you need to use multiple runways for takeoff. 33 R is too short for many aircraft, so most aircraft would have to queue at 28 based on that. Instead, the two long runways could split the traffic and make the whole operation much more efficient.

True. 33R is to small

There are 18 planes in line for takeoff on 28, 7 in line on 33R (smaller planes that can handle the runway), and currently zero in line for 33L.

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Welp, delays are usual at FNF, and the airport IRL does not handle that many planes like you said before. But another problem with departing 33L is that you have to cross 10/28, which would also be used.

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Which is why it is not being used. This was already discussed with the controllers before they opened.

We could use more controllers if you want to help.
https://community.infiniteflight.com/t/infinite-flight-atc-recruiting/217147

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Are they planning to reject inbound? They have about 50 planes coming from KMDW and like 20 taking off from BWI

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I will join at some point, but I am still grade 2 (don’t laugh), I only started global a month and some ago.

They could use IAD and DCA for a couple of arrivals if necessary.

Let the controllers handle it. No need to back seat control from the forum.

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