"Two U.S. Airlines' Woes Snarl Christmas Travel"

Sunday, December 26, 2004

Two Airlines' Woes Snarl Christmas Travel
By Alan Cooperman
The Washington (DC) Post


Thousands of airline passengers were stranded across the country on
Christmas, and many others arrived without suitcases full of gifts as two
airlines, USAirways and Comair, struggled with computer and staffing
problems. 

Since Christmas Day is one of the lightest air travel days of the year, the
snarling of baggage and cancellation of hundreds of flights yesterday were
"extraordinary," Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Greg Martin said.

 
He said the problems at USAirways and Comair "reside with the airlines' own
operations" and did not result from snowstorms across the Midwest. "It is
extraordinary in that you have two situations that do not involve weather,
nor are due to any incident involving the airspace system, such as
malfunctioning radar," Martin said. 

"Both situations are resulting in terrific customer inconvenience," he
added. 

One scene of particular confusion was USAirways' hub in Philadelphia
International Airport. Unclaimed suitcases piled up until the airline sent
five aircraft full of luggage, and without any passengers, to its
baggage-handling center in Charlotte for sorting. 

Disputing Martin's assertion, USAirways spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said bad
weather was part of the problem. 

"Severe weather on Thursday created the initial backlog, which was
compounded by an unusual number of sick calls by our employees," she said.
"We'll continue to work through the night to get back on track." 

Largely because of the number of flight attendants and baggage handlers who
called in sick, USAirways canceled 176 flights on Friday and 143 on
Christmas Day, Kudwa said. 

"Philadelphia is really where the backlog is centered. It's had ripple
effects throughout the system, but Philadelphia is the primary problem," she
said. 

USAirways unions said they had not called a job action. The airline, which
has sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in two
years, is trying to reduce labor costs. On Thursday, its reservations and
gate agents accepted a 13 percent pay cut. It has yet to reach new contracts
with its flight attendants and the International Association of Machinists,
which represents baggage handlers and mechanics. 

Comair, a subsidiary of Delta Airlines, canceled all 1,100 flights yesterday
after computer problems knocked out its system for managing flight crew
assignments. 

Nick Miller, a spokesman for Comair at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky
International Airport, said the cancellations affected 30,000 travelers in
118 cities. 

The effects of USAirways' and Comair's problems were felt at other East
Coast airports. At Ronald Reagan Washington National, a steady stream of
passengers looked through rows of unclaimed bags. 

Jose Hidalgo, of Woodbridge, was among those looking for missing luggage. He
said his sister-in-law had been stuck on a runway in the Dominican Republic
for hours on Friday, waiting to take off for Philadelphia. When she finally
go there, she was stranded in the airport overnight before arriving,
luggage-less, in Washington yesterday. 

Hidalgo said that USAirways had no information on the missing bags and that
he and his sister-in-law were headed home empty-handed. "Besides that," he
said, "everything is fine. It's Christmas, after all." 

Like USAirways, Comair said its problems were triggered by snowstorms that
forced flight delays and cancellations in the Midwest on Thursday and
Friday. 

"There was a cumulative effect with the canceled flights and trying to get
crew assigned that caused the system to be overwhelmed," the Associated
Press quoted Miller, the Comair spokesman, as saying. "It just stopped
operating." 

Guy and Claire Lobuono, of Colerain Township near Cincinnati, spent five
hours standing in a Comair ticket line at the Cincinnati airport Thursday,
only to find out their flight was canceled. Their flight was canceled again
Friday, and they spent Christmas Eve at an airport hotel eating potato chips
from a vending machine because no restaurants were open, the AP reported. 

"I know it's bad weather, but I just think it's disorganized," Lobuono said
gloomily, as his wife stood in line to check on other options. 

Ted Bushelman, director of communications for the airport, said in a
telephone interview that he was told by the airlines that as many as 2,000
people were stranded there on Christmas Eve after 16 inches of snow
blanketed the region. By last night, however, most had departed on other
flights. "The airport is practically empty now," he said.


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