With the planes situated on deck as they are, and a serious threat took place, how long would it take the planes to get airborne?
Depending on where they are, I believe a carrier battle group (almost) always has some aircraft on patrol. Then they may have another flight on “alert 5” which means they can be airborne in 5 minutes or less. Similarly, there may be more aircraft and crews on alert 15 and 30 status. But exactly how ready for trouble they really are comes down to where they are, and what kind of trouble they expect. Besides, these are instruments to project power - generally they spell trouble for someone else. ;-)