For Thousands, Still No Seat on the Plane ; Decked By Storm, US Airways Struggles to Clear Backlog

Mar 19, 03:30 PM

Current Headlines: By STAFF AND NEWS SERVICE REPORTS

Thousands of weary travelers on Sunday faced a third day waiting to reach their destinations as US Airways struggled to recover from the ice and snow storm that paralyzed airports in the Northeast.

The airline was still trying to find seats for 100,000 passengers systemwide whose flights were grounded by Friday's storm, spokesman Andrew Christie said. Many of the passengers were diverted to US Airways' hub in Charlotte, N.C., on Friday.

Computer problems, airline staffing rules and other problems slowed US Airways' attempts to clear the backlog. In addition, the airline's flights on Sunday were already nearly sold out with 275,000 passengers booked, the airline said.

"Now we are in the process of repositioning our crew, our planes and we are trying to re-accommodate roughly 100,000 customers who didn't make their final destinations on Friday," Christie said.

At Newark Liberty International Airport, some airlines Sunday reported delays up to five hours, said Alan Hicks, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

"That's not every airline," Hicks said. "Some flight [delays] are half that. Some flights are not delayed at all." He did not have delay times for specific airlines.

At Newark and at La Guardia and Kennedy airports in New York, gusty winds caused flight delays for Continental Airlines, according to the carrier's Web site.

Continental reported flight delays of three hours at Newark due to winds and runway conditions.

The storm's effect on US Airways was "certainly challenging," US Airways spokesman Phi Gee said.

US Airways has fewer than a dozen flights out of Newark, but like most of the other airlines, its planes were full, and finding space for passengers was the challenge.

On Friday, US Airways canceled 1,500 of its scheduled 3,700 flights nationwide. Most of the cancellations were in the Northeast, Gee said.

"At La Guardia there are long lines, but that's because we had to rebook people," Gee said. "The system is stabilizing a little bit."

JetBlue Airways said its operations were returning to normal following Friday's storm. The airline said travelers who booked for flights on Sunday to or from Newark could rebook anytime between Tuesday and April 30 and there would be no change fee or fare differences would be waived.

There also were long lines at US Airways ticket counters in Pittsburgh on Sunday because of cancellations and delays at other airports, said JoAnn Jenny, spokeswoman for the Allegheny County Airport Authority.

"It's just a busy time of year with spring break ... and then with that storm, that really put a wrench in the works for a lot of folks," Jenny said.

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Staff Writer Justo Bautista contributed to this article.

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