Tweed-New Haven Airport & Air Traffic Control: A Pilot’s perspective.

Air Traffic Control Q&A for HVN area residents.
Tuesday, October 1, 2025. 6:30pm. Nathan Hale School. New Haven, CT

The above is the time and place where HVN area residents will have a unique opportunity to talk with the Professionals who staff the HVN Air Traffic Control Tower. This gathering will be your opportunity to ask questions. Do your best to attend this event as it's not often that even Pilots and Air Traffic Controllers get to mingle amongst one another! Be there. Don’t get grounded.

The above opportunity in mind, I write you today as an effort to “prime your engine” for the kinds of subjects and questions that might be raised.

⚠️To be clear, I am taking liberty to brief you on this upcoming event and potential topics, as an individual, Professional Pilot. My place of employment and job as an Airline Captain are merely coincidental to the subject at hand and obviously qualify me to discuss the details at length with you. I represent nobody’s interests but my own. As a member of the aviation community,I take great personal delight in bringing Aviation Education to the community. ⚠️

What’s it all about?
Air Traffic Control is a highly complex and technical field. Given the upcoming opportunity to speak with Air Traffic Professionals, it’s important to have the proper perspective of their job. Pilots work very closely and routinely with Air Traffic Controllers. As the sky can be a lonely place, Air Traffic Controllers not only keep us company up there, but they keep us from hitting things! Together, Pilots and Air Traffic Controllers keep you and those on the ground safe (and hopefully on-time).

In this article, I am going to address WHAT AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS DO NOT DO. As such, when you have opportunity to ask questions, remember this article so as to ask pertinent questions. Aviation is a multi-disciplinary industry that involves countless areas of specific expertise and technical knowledge. These different areas are closely intertwined within aviation no doubt…but no one specific area is all encompassing. Simply, a professional from one segment of the industry cannot answer on behalf of all professionals. I guess that’s why we have “round table discussions”?

Things Air Traffic Controllers DO NOT 🚫 DO:

Air Traffic Control DOES NOT Divert a flight.

Air Traffic Controllers REPORT WEATHER & AIRFIELD CONDITIONS to Pilots. These parameters then factor into the decision to divert by the Pilot In Command of a given flight.

Cloud Ceiling, visibility, precipitation, wind and braking action, runway and taxiway snow depth/wetness (called contamination) conditions are chief among these conditions reported to the Pilot by ATC.

The Pilots then make in-flight decisions based on not just these conditions, but how these conditions relate to their respective aircraft limitations/capabilities (Airbus, Boeing and Embraer have specific ways they require their airplanes to be operated) , Flight Regulations (Federal Aviation Administration Regulations) and Specific Company Standard Operating procedures ( which are approved by the FAA) factor in to the decision to divert.

No Air Traffic Controller knows all (or any for that matter) of the company specific and aircraft specific guidance that Pilots must abide by…that’s the job of the Flight Crew. ATC cannot know these things because there is too much complexity in how individual airlines operate and how they operate their specific airplanes…The Federal Aviation Regulations, Manufacturer Aircraft Limitations and Company Standard Operating Procedures take care of this part of the aviation system and are the job of the Pilots to know as they relate to their airplane and airline. While Air Traffic Controllers know of and understand this concept (they certainly know Federal Aviation Regulations), they are not responsible for the specifics of such as they relate to a specific aircraft type and airline…Flight Crews and Airlines are responsible for such.

When it comes to diversions: Air Traffic Controller reports conditions to the Pilots in order for them to make diversion and flight-related decisions. The belief that television and media promotes in terms of Air Traffic Controllers “diverting flights” is patently false and completely wrong. As a Professional Pilot, I’m fully qualified to say this.

Air Traffic Controllers DO NOT 🚫:

Why is that airplane idling so long? Air Traffic Control does not clear Pilots to start their engines or APU (Auxiliary Power Unit).This is the job of the Flight Crew, done at their discretion. This discretion is related to operational factors such as “push time”, extreme cold or heat and matters related to the maintenance status of the airplane. These (among others) are the factors that contribute to when the APU and engines are started.

Yeah? But what about those midnight arrivals?
This said, certain flights, on occasion, are assigned “clearance times”. These are times given to flights for purposes of “Air Traffic Delay Programs” and are not all the time. These times are assigned to specific flights during specific traffic and weather conditions (hence, planned and anticipated delays) such as thunderstorms and high traffic time periods. This is all a fancy way of saying your flight is delayed. But why?

These “Air Traffic Delay Programs” are generally referred to as:

ℹ️EDCT…Expect Departure Clearance Time or “Wheels Up”.

ℹ️Ground Stops.

These aforementioned situations are the times Air Traffic Control has an influence on when flight crews operate Engines and the APU. When pilots are assigned these delays to their specific flights, we then adjust our procedures to accommodate and prepare for them.

This in mind, one needs to remember, the aircraft boarding, preparation process requires advance planning among many personnel. Airplanes don’t just turn on with a switch…and 150 people need to be gathered for specific flight times. Flight Crews and Airport Ground Personnel (not ATC) need to coordinate all the steps in flight preparation in order to meet these aforementioned parameters. This, then, is why ATC does not control engine and APU starts. Pilots do. You might call the aircraft boarding process an Orchestra. Airline personnel are the source of this orchestration and such is merely dictated by our “slot time” as assigned by ATC.

Why is that airplane so low?
Aircraft flight altitude around an airport is a complex subject. I will do my best to simplify by giving you a preview of the topics pertaining to this issue. Please realize, to fully relate aircraft altitude and discuss related community concerns, all of the topics below ⬇️ not only need to be addressed…but need to be addressed in detail. Lucky for you, I’m only going to make mention of them in bullet-point format so that you can use these listed items as a basis for questions at the upcoming meeting. Yes, I’m giving you a script from which to work from…and hopefully you’ll thank me for it. I want you to ask questions on the subjects I’ve listed below.

Aircraft altitude (near and proximal to an airport) is governed by:

ℹ️Federal Aviation Regulations.

ℹ️Airspace requirements.

ℹ️Aircraft operational procedures and specific onboard navigational equipment.

ℹ️Local Terrain and obstructions (Mountains, Antenna Towers, Tall buildings).

ℹ️Airport and Satellite based navigational equipment.

Coming in to land. Summary.

This article is just a warm-up to the very vast subject of Air Traffic Control. And as a mere citizen and aviation safety volunteer, a warm-up article is all that I can provide you at this time.

As someone who works hand-to-hand with Air Traffic Control on a daily basis, I can tell you that these professionals are a source of inspiration for me personally and professionally. They have kept me, my crew and my passengers trouble-free for thirty years and counting. You, me and millions of others who fly and reside within earshot of an airport, owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

As Air Traffic Controllers are my professional colleagues, I wanted to provide you, members of the community, a basic flight plan from which to launch your questions. I hope my writing on this subject has given you useful direction in the upcoming community meeting.

T.Lorenti, Captain.

Airline Transport Pilot, Certified Flight & Ground Instructor.

Airbus A220, Embraer E-Jet, Embraer E-145, Citation Sovereign 680+, Aerospatiale-Alenia ATR 42/72

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