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American Morning
Whiteout Woes for Air Travelers
Aired February 19, 2003 - 07:11 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now we are going to find out how people are faring, particularly in areas from Virginia to New York, stranded. Folks stranded as far south as Florida.
Let's go to Whitney at LaGuardia airport here in New York.
Good morning -- Whitney.
WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
I think that you need that coffee announcement over the loudspeaker here in LaGuardia, because it's a bit tense here. Bedlam, pandemonium, you call it, it's here at this hotel LaGuardia, as it's been called. A lot of punchy people around here, because they've been stranded for a couple of days.
But I went to find one of the nicest couples. Fritz and Brenda, come over here. They are the only people who sort of had smiles -- look, these smiles are so great on their faces. Everybody else was just unapproachable.
Anyway, you guys saw -- they were supposed to go to Seattle on Monday. They came here for the Presidents' weekend. And what did you end up doing?
FRITZ WESTPHAL, SEATTLE RESIDENT: Oh, gosh, when the snow started falling, we thought great, you know, this is just going to be fun and a different experience. And who would have ever expected to see, you know, a couple of feet of snow? I mean, it's been several years since a big snowstorm, but it was great, because just the beauty of the snow coming down, you know? It's just a totally different experience of the city.
CASEY: And you didn't mind...
BRENDA SCHERPING, SEATTLE RESIDENT: No.
CASEY: No?
SCHERPING: It was great. I mean, you were able to get out. You could -- no traffic, hardly even really anyone on the streets, so it was fantastic. You kind of have the city to yourself.
CASEY: And work-wise, it's OK that you're getting back late?
WESTPHAL: We made a couple of calls and checked the voice mail and everything, and yes, just to let everybody know that we're a little bit behind schedule. But we thought, hey, we're not going to let this ruin our trip, and we'll make the most out of it.
CASEY: With no further adieu, get back in line, and get through those people.
And they've also said that the bloom did not fall from the rose. They still love New York, despite these travelers here.
But, Paula -- back to you.
ZAHN: Good luck. I hope all of those folks stay calm. Thanks. Whitney Casey reporting for us.
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 February 19, 2003 - 07:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now we are going to find out how people are faring, particularly in areas from Virginia to New York, stranded. Folks stranded as far south as Florida.
Let's go to Whitney at LaGuardia airport here in New York.
Good morning -- Whitney.
WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
I think that you need that coffee announcement over the loudspeaker here in LaGuardia, because it's a bit tense here. Bedlam, pandemonium, you call it, it's here at this hotel LaGuardia, as it's been called. A lot of punchy people around here, because they've been stranded for a couple of days.
But I went to find one of the nicest couples. Fritz and Brenda, come over here. They are the only people who sort of had smiles -- look, these smiles are so great on their faces. Everybody else was just unapproachable.
Anyway, you guys saw -- they were supposed to go to Seattle on Monday. They came here for the Presidents' weekend. And what did you end up doing?
FRITZ WESTPHAL, SEATTLE RESIDENT: Oh, gosh, when the snow started falling, we thought great, you know, this is just going to be fun and a different experience. And who would have ever expected to see, you know, a couple of feet of snow? I mean, it's been several years since a big snowstorm, but it was great, because just the beauty of the snow coming down, you know? It's just a totally different experience of the city.
CASEY: And you didn't mind...
BRENDA SCHERPING, SEATTLE RESIDENT: No.
CASEY: No?
SCHERPING: It was great. I mean, you were able to get out. You could -- no traffic, hardly even really anyone on the streets, so it was fantastic. You kind of have the city to yourself.
CASEY: And work-wise, it's OK that you're getting back late?
WESTPHAL: We made a couple of calls and checked the voice mail and everything, and yes, just to let everybody know that we're a little bit behind schedule. But we thought, hey, we're not going to let this ruin our trip, and we'll make the most out of it.
CASEY: With no further adieu, get back in line, and get through those people.
And they've also said that the bloom did not fall from the rose. They still love New York, despite these travelers here.
But, Paula -- back to you.
ZAHN: Good luck. I hope all of those folks stay calm. Thanks. Whitney Casey reporting for us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
