Jun 20, 2007 10:10 am US/Eastern
Passengers Spend 5 Hours On Plane At LaGuardia
by Magee Hickey
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Hundreds of passengers weathered the storm stuck at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty airports. (File photo)
CBS
Stormy weather in the Northeast had led to canceled and delayed flights at all local area airports, hundreds being stranded at LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty airports, and frustrated passengers sitting for hours on planes that never took off.
Passenger Alice Norris, who was trying to fly to Cincinnati from LaGuardia Airport, said, "We sat on the plane for five hours on the tarmac, and all they gave us was a glass of water and a granola bar," Norris said.
Norris tried to find a hotel room to spend the night, "But there were no hotel rooms anywhere. They were fully booked," she said.
So instead, she bought a toothbrush and pillow at an overpriced airport store, and joined hundreds of other people sleeping in stiff, plastic chairs, on linoleum floors or in paper-thin cots supplied by the airports.
Digg This Story!American Airlines said it had canceled 19 flights on Tuesday because of the bad weather that started in the Midwest mid-afternoon on Tuesday. The airline is trying to accommodate passengers on the next available flights.
Passenger Suzanne Kitchen said, "The problem is no one would give us any information. We were on our own trying to get a night of sleep."
The airlines promised her she'd be flying out this morning, but she's doubtful.
Traveling? Check Delays At All N.Y. Airports Here.Meanwhile, JetBlue Airways -- which has experienced major flight delays in recent months, including the major stranding of thousands of passengers after the airline canceled more than 1,000 flights on Valentine's Day -- blamed normal congestion in the area compounded by weather delays.
"It's such a hard thing in the Northeast right now," a JetBlue rep said. "The airports there have grown so much. It's definitely an issue that needs to be dealt with and airlines and airports are working together. Something does need to be done."
JetBlue passengers said they were upset that little information came their way during the delay.
"We've been waiting for hours and haven't heard anything. The airline needs to get its act together. You know all the problems they had before," said Chris Harris, a passenger on Flight 357 from JFK to Burbank, which was scheduled to depart at 4:45 p.m., but rolled out of the gate and ended up sitting in line to take off for more than two hours.
Passengers on the JetBlue flight will get $100 vouchers for having to sit in the plane for so long.
Most scheduled flights were operating under normal schedules by Wednesday morning, according to the Federal Aviation Administration's flight tracking system.
Delays at New York's three major airports have hit record levels for the first four months of 2007. In all, 38 percent of all flights at Newark Liberty, John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia were either late or canceled, leading to disruptions nationwide.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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