Nearly 10,000 flights canceled since holiday blizzard began
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CNN
Close to 10,000 total flights have been canceled since the beginning of a holiday blizzard that blanketed much of the U.S. northeast with snow and left thousands stranded.
Airline representatives from AirTran, American, Continental, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue, United, U.S. Airways, Spirit and Southwest reported a total of at least 9,726 trips were called off due to weather since Saturday.
Of those, at least 1,335 flights were canceled on Tuesday as major airports across the region slowly got back to normal.
"With all the cancellations and delays, it'll be two to three days before the airlines are at a regular schedule," said Thomas Bosco, general manager of New York's LaGuardia Airport.
By early Tuesday evening, LaGuardia was still operating well below its normal 70 flights per hour, he said.
John F. Kennedy Airport, in the New York City borough of Queens, and Newark Liberty International, in northern New Jersey, opened to incoming and departing traffic at 6 p.m. Monday, Port Authority spokeswoman Sara Joren said.
AirTran spokesman Christopher White said his airline didn't plan any more cancellations Tuesday after dropping 81 flights on Monday. Instead, White said, AirTran planned to operate additional flights out of LaGuardia, Boston's Logan Airport and White Plains, New York's Westchester County Airport to get people home.
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Filed under: 360° Radar |
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Working in reservations for one of these airlines and dealing with this over the years whether it be summer storms, winter storms, volcanos,and even 9-11,is just part of the job. It is wonderful especially to get people where they want to go anyway possible at the holidays. It is a joy to assist our customers who are kind, understanding & greatful. I love making their day better and sure wish we could do it faster, but with many employees having trouble getting in the first day, we all pull together, workers and customers and get them on their way. Another experience to remember for 2010 Holiday season! Hope everyone haves a HAPPY AND SAFE NEW YEAR!
As the spouse of a 20 year, major airline employee, I ask , what does the flying public expect an airline to do in the case of inclement weather? Do they really want airlines flying planes in blizzard conditions? Don't they think that the safest route is to cancel flights until the weather conditions improve and then put passengers on the first available flights? I know, my spouse, as a pilot will not fly into conditions that are unsafe. Maybe these passengers should have checked the weather before they left for the airport. Safety is a #1 priority for airlines. Passengers should understand that and deal with delays due to weather. We all want everyone to arrive at their destinations safely, not necessarily on time. SAFETY FIRST!