"Travelers waiting it out at Sea-Tac, other airports"

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Travelers waiting it out at Sea-Tac, other airports
Airline cancellations triggered by Hurricane Irene caused problems for some
travelers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Saturday.
By Christine Clarridge
The Seattle (WA) Times


Since there was no way Andy Boonyanan was going to make it to her East Coast
home on any airplane anytime soon, the big question was where she want to be
stranded.

She could fly free of charge to Buffalo, sure, or Syracuse, but while that
would get her slightly closer to home, did that really help? No, she said,
as she doesn't know anyone there and she's a little afraid of Buffalo
anyway. She could fly to Detroit, according to a Delta Air Lines
representative, and wait for the next available plane to the Big Apple, but
the thought of camping out at that airport waiting for the weather to clear
pleased her even less.

"That's even more scary," said the 31-year-old Connecticut resident, who
works in New York City as a nanny.

Boonyanan, along with numerous other travelers, went to Seattle-Tacoma
International Airport on Saturday because she couldn't get through to the
airline by phone on Friday and didn't know what else to do.

The problem, she said, is weather is so darn unpredictable.

While it could take just a day or two for normal flight schedules to resume,
it could take much longer for the airlines to accommodate the millions of
travelers who are affected by flight cancellations caused by Hurricane
Irene.

More than 9,000 flights to and from the East Coast - including New York
City, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and down through North
Carolina - were grounded as the estimated 500-mile-wide storm passed over
North Carolina's Outer Banks.

All New York City-area airports closed to arriving flights at noon Saturday,
when the city's public-transportation system shut down. United Continental,
the world's largest airline, suspended operations in the New York area.
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles
International Airport were both open Saturday afternoon, but most flights
had been canceled.

Airlines already have canceled a handful of flights for Monday, but all the
major U.S. carriers said they would wait to assess damage before canceling
more. ExpressJet, which operates regional flights for United and
Continental, has the most cancellations so far for Monday, with 140.

In Seattle alone, 1,300 flights were canceled over the weekend, according to
Nick Martin, a Delta Air Lines representative.

"There's very little we can do about it," he said. "It's weather."

Even by the time the hurricane dies, thousands of passengers still could be
affected as airlines work to fit people onto the already full flights.

When Boonyanan finally accepted she had to make peace with waiting out the
storm somewhere, she decided to stay put in Seattle with her friend.

"I guess we'll just do some more shopping," she said. "My boss will
understand. She's stuck, too."

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