Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority trains sit idle early Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013 in Boston due to high winds and the nearly two-feet of snow that fell in the area overnight. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority trains sit idle early Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013 in Boston due to high winds and the nearly two-feet of snow that fell in the area overnight. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Two travelers walk to catch the last train into Boston from the Andover, Mass. train station as snow falls on Friday, Feb. 8, 2013. A major winter storm is barreling into the U.S. Northeast with up to 2 feet of snow expected for a Boston-area region that has seen mostly bare ground this winter. The MBTA will suspend all transit service in the late afternoon due to the storm. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Grounds crews pass a plane as they clear the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport Friday, Feb. 8, 2013, in New York. A blizzard of potentially historic proportions threatens to strike the Northeast with 1 to 2 feet of snow forecast along the densely populated Interstate 95 corridor from New York City to Boston and beyond. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
NEW YORK (AP) ? New York's airports dug out from under nearly a foot of snow and started letting some flights land Saturday, while Boston's Logan Airport remained closed.
The first inbound passenger flight at John F. Kennedy International Airport landed at 9:30 a.m., according to the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, which operates the region's three major airports.
Meanwhile, Amtrak said the New York-Boston train route would remain closed Saturday as crews cleared tracks of snow and fallen trees. Trains were running south from New York, and between New York and Albany.
Airports in the Northeast shut down Friday afternoon as a snowstorm of potentially historic proportions blew in. The storm brought more than 2 feet of snow in some parts of New England and left more than 650,000 homes and businesses without power at its peak.
These days, airlines try to get ahead of big storms by canceling flights in advance. They want to avoid having crews and planes stuck in one area of the country. They also face fines for leaving passengers stuck on a plane for more than three hours under a rule that went into effect in 2010.
Logan Airport said it expects to open one runway by 11 p.m. Across the region, flights were expected to be back on close to normal schedules on Sunday.
Flight-tracking website FlightAware said airlines have canceled 5,368 flights because of the storm. Airlines have waived the usual fees to change tickets for flights in the affected areas.
Hardest hit was United Airlines. It has cancelled 710 Friday, Saturday and Sunday flights, according to FlightAware. That doesn't include regional airlines operating as United Express. The count almost doubles when including those, United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said.
Delta Air Lines cancelled 1,200 flights, including regional Delta Connection flights operated by partners.
Even with flights resuming, the airlines recommended that travelers check their websites before heading out to the airport.
Daniel Baker, CEO of FlightAware, noted that the timing of this storm worked in the airlines' favor.
"Fortunately, Saturday is the lightest travel day of the week, so airlines can use the day to restart their operations in time for the Sunday evening travel rush," Baker said earlier as airlines were starting their cancellations.
Still, the storm disrupted thousands of travelers.
Denny Lindersson, a tourist from Sweden, was making his way across New York City with his family on Saturday morning after spending the night at a hotel close to Kennedy Airport. Their Saturday morning flight to the Cayman Islands was cancelled. JetBlue Airways re-booked them for a Monday flight, but rather than wait, the Linderssons bought new tickets on a flight from Newark Airport in New Jersey on Saturday afternoon.
"JetBlue didn't pay for anything," he grumbled, also noting that Sweden's biggest airport would not have shut down because of 11 inches of snow.
Several professional and college sports teams were stranded by the storm. The NBA's New York Knicks were stuck in Minnesota after playing the Timberwolves on Friday night. The San Antonio Spurs stayed overnight in Detroit, as they awaited word on flying to New York for their game Sunday night with the Brooklyn Nets.
___
AP Airlines Writer Scott Mayerowitz contributed to this story.
Associated Pressjames harden breeders cup Mitch Lucker Red Cross CMA Awards 2012 election day Electoral College map
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.