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Air Travel Woes
Aired December 05, 2002 - 12:34 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: If you're on the East Coast or headed that way by plane, don't forget to pack a lot of patience. Blame your delays on the winter-like storm that dumped snow from the Texas Panhandle all the way to Connecticut.
Rally Caparas, Travelocity's air traffic expert, is here, keeping an eye on the sky for us.
How bad is it?
RALLY CAPARAS, TRAVELOCITY.COM: Kyra, it's awful to be honest with you. It's probably the worst travel day that we've seen in quite some time, definitely caused by weather. We've not seen these conditions thus far this winter, and the delays are very lengthy.
I'm going to show you a graphical display of what's going on in the United States right now. We're looking at about 4,500 airplanes that are talking to air traffic control throughout the United States. And as you see up in the northeast here, there is a blue blob. That's all that snow, ice, rain -- you name it -- that's causing the delays.
And here's how it's affecting journeys today. Up in Boston at Boston's Logan Airport, they've been listening to that -- you remember the old theme from "Jaws?"
KAGAN: Now, you're aging us.
CAPARAS: Well, I'm old, so I don't mind saying it. That sound has been going off in those people's ears all day. It's there upon them right now, and it's going to cause 60 to 90 minute arrival delays until later on this evening.
Just a little further south at New York LaGuardia, JFK, Newark Liberty and Philadelphia airports, they're going to experience -- ready for this -- three to four hour arrival and departure delays. And that's going to last until about 11:00 or 12:00 tonight.
There are actually airplanes that have been sent to other airports in the surrounding areas, because some of these people weren't allowed to land. They had to be diverted, and they're in the process of diversion recovery as we speak.
There are some other areas of delays down around Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Dulles, there are some two to three hour delays still, but Dulles -- well, actually just Dulles will see those delays continuing. Washington, D.C., Reagan National and Baltimore, Washington should see better schedules start a little bit later this evening.
Down south at Charlotte, they saw a lot of delays earlier with the rain and the ice and all of the mess.
Atlanta Hartsfield, they also earlier this morning -- and Raleigh-Durham, they're seeing the last effects of that storm blowing through. And things should be getting better for most people.
The rest of the country looks delay free for the most part, but the northeast, if you're flying into or out of those major airports, we've seen a lot of cancellations, folks. We know there are a lot of frustrated people out there.
Be patient, be calm in the airports, and remember, air traffic controllers are working hard to get you to and from, so just know they're working and there are people out there trying to do what they can to get you where you're going.
PHILLIPS: All right, you mentioned cancellations. What can you tell us about cancellations?
CAPARAS: You know, as of about 15 minutes ago when I was checking my data last, there were approximately -- well, exactly 605 canceled flights going into the airports from Philadelphia north to Boston. Part of the reason why Boston hasn't seen such significant delays yet is that they were proactive in canceling some of the flights going in there to reduce the airport's flight handling capacities, to bring it down to the levels that they could handle the flights. Most people don't realize that airport arrival and departure capacities are designed during ideal conditions. It doesn't do you any good when the wind gets bad or when the fog rolls in or when the rain hits or like today when we see a lot of snow.
So, expect delays to be pretty bad up in that area.
PHILLIPS: Rally Caparas is Travelocity's air traffic expert -- thank you so much.
CAPARAS: Sure, you're welcome.
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 December 5, 2002 - 12:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: If you're on the East Coast or headed that way by plane, don't forget to pack a lot of patience. Blame your delays on the winter-like storm that dumped snow from the Texas Panhandle all the way to Connecticut.
Rally Caparas, Travelocity's air traffic expert, is here, keeping an eye on the sky for us.
How bad is it?
RALLY CAPARAS, TRAVELOCITY.COM: Kyra, it's awful to be honest with you. It's probably the worst travel day that we've seen in quite some time, definitely caused by weather. We've not seen these conditions thus far this winter, and the delays are very lengthy.
I'm going to show you a graphical display of what's going on in the United States right now. We're looking at about 4,500 airplanes that are talking to air traffic control throughout the United States. And as you see up in the northeast here, there is a blue blob. That's all that snow, ice, rain -- you name it -- that's causing the delays.
And here's how it's affecting journeys today. Up in Boston at Boston's Logan Airport, they've been listening to that -- you remember the old theme from "Jaws?"
KAGAN: Now, you're aging us.
CAPARAS: Well, I'm old, so I don't mind saying it. That sound has been going off in those people's ears all day. It's there upon them right now, and it's going to cause 60 to 90 minute arrival delays until later on this evening.
Just a little further south at New York LaGuardia, JFK, Newark Liberty and Philadelphia airports, they're going to experience -- ready for this -- three to four hour arrival and departure delays. And that's going to last until about 11:00 or 12:00 tonight.
There are actually airplanes that have been sent to other airports in the surrounding areas, because some of these people weren't allowed to land. They had to be diverted, and they're in the process of diversion recovery as we speak.
There are some other areas of delays down around Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Dulles, there are some two to three hour delays still, but Dulles -- well, actually just Dulles will see those delays continuing. Washington, D.C., Reagan National and Baltimore, Washington should see better schedules start a little bit later this evening.
Down south at Charlotte, they saw a lot of delays earlier with the rain and the ice and all of the mess.
Atlanta Hartsfield, they also earlier this morning -- and Raleigh-Durham, they're seeing the last effects of that storm blowing through. And things should be getting better for most people.
The rest of the country looks delay free for the most part, but the northeast, if you're flying into or out of those major airports, we've seen a lot of cancellations, folks. We know there are a lot of frustrated people out there.
Be patient, be calm in the airports, and remember, air traffic controllers are working hard to get you to and from, so just know they're working and there are people out there trying to do what they can to get you where you're going.
PHILLIPS: All right, you mentioned cancellations. What can you tell us about cancellations?
CAPARAS: You know, as of about 15 minutes ago when I was checking my data last, there were approximately -- well, exactly 605 canceled flights going into the airports from Philadelphia north to Boston. Part of the reason why Boston hasn't seen such significant delays yet is that they were proactive in canceling some of the flights going in there to reduce the airport's flight handling capacities, to bring it down to the levels that they could handle the flights. Most people don't realize that airport arrival and departure capacities are designed during ideal conditions. It doesn't do you any good when the wind gets bad or when the fog rolls in or when the rain hits or like today when we see a lot of snow.
So, expect delays to be pretty bad up in that area.
PHILLIPS: Rally Caparas is Travelocity's air traffic expert -- thank you so much.
CAPARAS: Sure, you're welcome.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
