After the storm, US travelers beginning to see the light
Source: Agencies |
December 30, 2010, Thursday
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TRAVELERS hampered by the massive snowstorm that hit the northeastern United States saw light at the end of the tunnel yesterday as the cleanup progressed and airlines tried to catch up on backlogs.
Officials at the New York area's three major airports said runways were now all open but it might take days before all the passengers who had been camping out in terminals could get flights out.
Most flights at New Jersey's Newark Liberty Airport were taking off and landing as scheduled. Continental Airlines said that its hub there was nearly normal but that some cancellations and delays remained.
In snowbound neighborhoods in New York, where hundreds of buses and dozens of ambulances got stuck in the snowdrifts, unplowed roads still hampered bus services. Officials said they hoped to have streets cleared by later in the day.
"It's a bad situation and we're working together to correct it," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. Some 1,000 vehicles had been removed from three major New York City-area expressways alone, he said.
General delays were reported at New York's Kennedy airport, where at least three airliners were stuck for more than seven hours while they waited for an open gate.
The airport remained filled with passengers on cell phones and laptops, trying to rebook flights, make hotel reservations or figure out alternate plans. Lines at counters for rental cars, ground transport and lost luggage remained long throughout the day.
More than 5,000 flights had been canceled at the three airports.
Gigi Godfrey, of Belize, spent 10 hours trapped in a Cathay Pacific plane. "It was so frustrating, just sitting there for hours, waiting for more bad news," the 24-year-old said.
US airlines operating domestic flights are not allowed to keep passengers waiting on the tarmac for more than three hours, but international flights and foreign airlines are exempt from the rule.
At JFK's Terminal 7, exhausted would-be travelers trapped in the airport for hours - or in some cases days - had removed the rope barriers from around a British Airways display touting "new, "roomier business class seats" and were sleeping, stretched out or slumped over, in the model airplane seats.
In New York, service on trains plagued by signal problems and short-circuits was improving but not back to normal days after the storm.
Officials at the New York area's three major airports said runways were now all open but it might take days before all the passengers who had been camping out in terminals could get flights out.
Most flights at New Jersey's Newark Liberty Airport were taking off and landing as scheduled. Continental Airlines said that its hub there was nearly normal but that some cancellations and delays remained.
In snowbound neighborhoods in New York, where hundreds of buses and dozens of ambulances got stuck in the snowdrifts, unplowed roads still hampered bus services. Officials said they hoped to have streets cleared by later in the day.
"It's a bad situation and we're working together to correct it," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. Some 1,000 vehicles had been removed from three major New York City-area expressways alone, he said.
General delays were reported at New York's Kennedy airport, where at least three airliners were stuck for more than seven hours while they waited for an open gate.
The airport remained filled with passengers on cell phones and laptops, trying to rebook flights, make hotel reservations or figure out alternate plans. Lines at counters for rental cars, ground transport and lost luggage remained long throughout the day.
More than 5,000 flights had been canceled at the three airports.
Gigi Godfrey, of Belize, spent 10 hours trapped in a Cathay Pacific plane. "It was so frustrating, just sitting there for hours, waiting for more bad news," the 24-year-old said.
US airlines operating domestic flights are not allowed to keep passengers waiting on the tarmac for more than three hours, but international flights and foreign airlines are exempt from the rule.
At JFK's Terminal 7, exhausted would-be travelers trapped in the airport for hours - or in some cases days - had removed the rope barriers from around a British Airways display touting "new, "roomier business class seats" and were sleeping, stretched out or slumped over, in the model airplane seats.
In New York, service on trains plagued by signal problems and short-circuits was improving but not back to normal days after the storm.
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