Flying for Scenic Airlines is a little different then other airlines like Southwest or United when looking at factors such as weather. At Scenic, the majority of our flying is conducting using VFR (Visual Flight Rules). Simply put, this means that we need to stay out of the clouds while flying to and from the airports we serve. At most airlines, flights are conducted under IFR (Instrument Flight Rules), so aircraft can venture through clouds because they are navigating using their instruments, not visual references on the ground. If we needed to in a pinch, we could fly IFR, but that would not be as “scenic” for the passengers.
As we get later in the year and the weather begins to cool, flying VFR becomes more and more challenging because of storms late in the day. Below are a few photos that were taken on a flight earlier this week. The first one from 10,500 (the highest we can go over the canyon because of oxygen regulations), and the second one is from the ramp at KGCN (Grand Canyon Airport) just as a storm is passing over.
South Rim of the Grand Canyon as a storm builds. The clear sky of Las Vegas can be seen in the distance.
KGCN as a storm is approaching
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