If you’ve ever sat on a plane wondering why the pilot announced that you’d be landing soon but seemed to be flying in circles with no runway in sight, you’ve probably been in a holding pattern.

Question: What conditions make you order flights into holding patterns? Is there a time limit where you would divert them to another airport instead? Answer: There are many reasons aircraft may be put ...

Holding patterns for airports in dusty regions are particularly potentially damaging to aircraft engines, analysis of dust ingestion at 10 airports worldwide has found. Arrival holds contributed over ...