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CNN Live At Daybreak
Delays at Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport
Aired November 27, 2002 - 07:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: As Chad said, there are delays at Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport, a 60 minute delay for travelers. What about here in New York City at LaGuardia? Boy, it's packed.
Let's head there live now and check in with CNN correspondent Maria Hinojosa -- good morning.
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol.
Well, you know, I've got to tell you, if you're coming into LaGuardia this is not such a bad time to come. About an hour ago I could not have walked through this path. So things are slowing down. That was at the peak. Of course, we've been here since 4:30 in the morning. So that was at the peak. There will probably be another peak around 3:00. About, now, outside people were lining up starting at about 4:00 in the morning. They've made their way in and what you're actually seeing once they get inside is they're doing OK at the ticket counters.
Where you're seeing a lot of backup is at the security check out, where you can't see it, but it's about a block long, a 25 minute wait. We're talking about 80,000 people coming into LaGuardia Airport, 40 percent more than last year. There's an increase of six percent across the country in terms of air travel, but it's not a record breaker. Just probably more people feeling a little bit more secure about traveling and taking to the skies after last year, September 11.
So a lot of people feeling good, though. I have to tell you, I've seen a lot of people smiling, not only flight attendants, pilots, even the security people. Everybody's kind of doing well. So no incidents to report. But we do expect that we're going to see another big crunch here around 3:00. So they're saying to check your airline Web sites to find out about the timing for the, for your travel time.
COSTELLO: Oh, good advice. It's nice to know people are actually smiling.
What are the delays at the security? I mean why are there delays at the security checkpoints? Is it because people aren't taking off metal objects and putting them through the metal detector?
HINOJOSA: Well, there is, of course, a heightened security alert across the board. And so they're being very particular today. We haven't heard of any incidents. But I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that people are moving pretty quickly out of the ticket area and then what's happening is that there's just, they have five slots open for the security check, but you've got such a mass of people coming in that that's where the backup is. Of course, we're going to try to get you some of those pictures, because it's pretty amazing. I mean about a block long. So that's why it's good to leave extra time, for sure.
COSTELLO: OK, we'll let you get busy.
Thank you, Maria.
HINOJOSA: OK, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 27, 2002 - 07:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: As Chad said, there are delays at Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport, a 60 minute delay for travelers. What about here in New York City at LaGuardia? Boy, it's packed.
Let's head there live now and check in with CNN correspondent Maria Hinojosa -- good morning.
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol.
Well, you know, I've got to tell you, if you're coming into LaGuardia this is not such a bad time to come. About an hour ago I could not have walked through this path. So things are slowing down. That was at the peak. Of course, we've been here since 4:30 in the morning. So that was at the peak. There will probably be another peak around 3:00. About, now, outside people were lining up starting at about 4:00 in the morning. They've made their way in and what you're actually seeing once they get inside is they're doing OK at the ticket counters.
Where you're seeing a lot of backup is at the security check out, where you can't see it, but it's about a block long, a 25 minute wait. We're talking about 80,000 people coming into LaGuardia Airport, 40 percent more than last year. There's an increase of six percent across the country in terms of air travel, but it's not a record breaker. Just probably more people feeling a little bit more secure about traveling and taking to the skies after last year, September 11.
So a lot of people feeling good, though. I have to tell you, I've seen a lot of people smiling, not only flight attendants, pilots, even the security people. Everybody's kind of doing well. So no incidents to report. But we do expect that we're going to see another big crunch here around 3:00. So they're saying to check your airline Web sites to find out about the timing for the, for your travel time.
COSTELLO: Oh, good advice. It's nice to know people are actually smiling.
What are the delays at the security? I mean why are there delays at the security checkpoints? Is it because people aren't taking off metal objects and putting them through the metal detector?
HINOJOSA: Well, there is, of course, a heightened security alert across the board. And so they're being very particular today. We haven't heard of any incidents. But I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that people are moving pretty quickly out of the ticket area and then what's happening is that there's just, they have five slots open for the security check, but you've got such a mass of people coming in that that's where the backup is. Of course, we're going to try to get you some of those pictures, because it's pretty amazing. I mean about a block long. So that's why it's good to leave extra time, for sure.
COSTELLO: OK, we'll let you get busy.
Thank you, Maria.
HINOJOSA: OK, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
