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November 1, 2012

N.E. travel slowly resumes

Travel creaks back into motion after Superstorm Sandy

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Associated Press

Airlines Writers In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, travel in the Northeast creaked back into motion on Wednesday.

It was a grinding, patchy recovery that made it clear that stranded travelers will struggle to get around for days to come.

New York's three major airports were expected to be open Thursday morning with limited flights. Most Northeast rail service remained suspended. In New York City, some buses were running and subway service was expected to restart Thursday.

The busy Northeast travel corridor ground to a halt when Sandy slammed into New Jersey Monday evening. Train tunnels flooded, power went out, and forecasts of high winds forced airlines to cancel thousands of flights.

FlightStats said the storm has caused more than 19,000 cancellations, including 2,820 cancellations Wednesday. The loss of East Coast flights stranded tourists in New York and kept travelers stuck in Hong Kong. The lack of trains left suburban commuters without a way into work.

On Wednesday, the first trickle of air travelers reached New York since the storm hit. John F. Kennedy International and Newark, N.J.'s Liberty Airport both opened, but flights were limited. The airlines that did operate were mostly positioning planes for a fuller schedule on Thursday.

New York's third major airport, LaGuardia, will open at 7 a.m. on Thursday, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey said on its website. LaGuardia has just two runways that jut out into bays and are only a few feet above sea level.

They were inundated by Sandy's huge surge American Airlines, Delta Air Lines Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co. said they plan to restart LaGuardia flights on Thursday. Delta spokesman Morgan Durrant said the airline intends to start landing planes around 7 a.m. and hopes to operate half of its scheduled LaGuardia flights on Thursday. Southwest plans to start flights around 1 p.m.

"There is some damage to our offices and facilities," American Airlines spokeswoman Andrea Huguely said. "It's not pretty, but we can operate. Our employees are cleaning up for our customers." Airline employees will face challenges getting to work. Not only is mass transit severely restricted, but driving in will be more difficult. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that only cars with at least three passengers would be allowed to cross a bridge or enter a tunnel.

"There are a lot of contingencies before we can re-open at LaGuardia," Southwest spokesman Paul Flaningan said. "It's still barricaded at the front entrance, which makes drop-offs from taxis and buses difficult." Amtrak said it plans to restore some service on Friday to and from New York City, which has been without intercity train service since it was walloped by superstorm Sandy.

The railroad said the removal of water from flooded train tunnels under the Hudson and East rivers is continuing so that repairs to tracks, signals and power systems can be made. A Friday schedule is expected to be released Thursday.

Service to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey has been restored, but Northeast Regional service between Newark and New Haven, Conn., and Acela Express service for the length of the Northeast Corridor are canceled for Thursday. Empire Service between New York City and other cities in the state, and Canada are also canceled for Thursday Airlines continued to waive fees to change tickets for flights to New York airports. Delta and United said that anyone who planned to fly there through Saturday could change their ticket. However, the re-booked travel still had to begin by Nov. 9, giving travelers a relatively narrow window to make their trip.

American's waiver was broader, covering New York tickets through Nov. 7, and allowing rebooked travel through Dec. 20.

Airports in Washington and Philadelphia re-opened on Tuesday.

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