How should you brief your crew when there is a known weather delay affecting the departure time?

• A. Provide updated ETA, discuss service impact, assign tasks, inform passengers, monitor weather updates, and plan contingencies.
• B. Inform passengers only about the delay.
• C. Ignore weather updates and proceed as scheduled.
• D. Change aircraft without communicating delays.

Answer: (A)

When a weather delay is known, a thorough crew briefing should include updating the estimated departure time, outlining how service will be affected, assigning clear duties, informing passengers, keeping weather updates monitored, and planning contingencies. This approach keeps everyone on the same page: the flight deck, cabin crew, ground staff, and dispatch all understand the current timing and the specific tasks needed to maintain safety and service quality. It also enables proactive passenger communication, which reduces confusion and frustration, and sets the team up to respond quickly as conditions change.

Informing passengers only isn’t enough because it leaves crew and ground teams without a full picture of how operations will proceed. Ignoring weather updates or continuing as scheduled undermines safety and coordination, and changing aircraft without communicating delays creates avoidable confusion and disrupts service planning.