Airlines are grounding hundreds of planes and cancelling thousands of flights. Countless passengers have been stranded, frustrated, angered or otherwise inconvenienced at airports across America. To make matters worse, three airlines declared bankruptcy and ceased operations, and a fourth -- Frontier -- just filed Chapter 11 (and for the moment is still flying). And with airlines cutting capacity in the coming months (and raising fares), the situation only looks like it's going to get worse. So, what can you do to avoid being a travel victim?

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Up Next: Earliest Flight

It all starts when you make your reservation. Book the first flight out of the day, for a number of reasons. First, there's a high likelihood that your aircraft overnighted at the airport and is already there. Second, that also means the crew is there. And since airport delays grow exponentially from the first flight, your odds of taking off on time, or as near to on time as the published schedule says, are better.

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Up Next: "Legal" Minimum-Time Connections

If you've got to make a connecting flight, give yourself at least double the time the airline might allow. In most cases, airlines will try to give you the "legal" minimum connect times, meaning the minimum that regulations allow. Assuming that your initial flight is going to be late, you've now guaranteed yourself an ugly day. Instead, give yourself at least two hours between flights, or you run the very real risk of camping out at your midpoint airport.

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Up Next: Flightstats.com

There are things you need to do before you ever get to the airport. It starts with modern communications that allow you to be disappointed from the comfort of your own home. Log onto Flightstats.com to track air traffic -- and your own flight number.

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Up Next: Right Questions

Never ask if your flight is simply on time. Airline reservations agents almost always interpret that question as: Is your flight "scheduled" to leave or arrive on time? Of COURSE it's scheduled to leave on time. So was the Titanic. Instead, phrase your question differently. Ask for the aircraft number assigned to your flight and then ask where that aircraft number is. If you're in Chicago trying to fly to San Francisco, but your aircraft is in Belize heading to Miami, you won't be on that plane to San Francisco.

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Up Next: Bus or Train

In a worst-case scenario -- your flight is cancelled, or the airline has grounded so many planes that you have no other flight options, consider taking the "dog." Suddenly, jumping on Greyhound has become a viable alternative on trips under 400 miles. Other low fare bus services like Mega Bus have also become good choices. The same holds true for Amtrak. Considering what you have to go through at airports even when things are operating more normally (whatever that means), you can often save a substantial amount of time and frustration by taking the train on short trips.
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