Return to Transcripts main page
Live From...
Hundreds of Flights Have Been Canceled
Aired September 18, 2003 - 14:50 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: Traveling is not a good thing right now. considering the hurricane.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Stay put.
PHILLIPS: Plain and simple. Amtrak is refining its train schedule.
O'BRIEN: Stay put.
PHILLIPS: A lot of flights have been canceled.
Patty Davis, of course, has been following it all.
O'BRIEN: She is at the FAA command center, where they have sort of a look at the big picture in Herndon, Virginia.
Hello -- Patty.
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Miles. Hi, Kyra.
The FAA says that what's really helping them out here is a lot of airlines have canceled flights. It's making their job a lot easier.
As you can see, this is the FAA's map of Isabel, and the red lines here are the routes that they're sending airplanes around. They're sending a lot of the air traffic around to the west right now of Isabel.
Surprisingly, though, they say that there are a few planes that are flying over Isabel at 20,000 to 30,000 feet. Those pilots are reporting a pretty smooth ride.
Now, because of the wind gusts and the weather, the FAA is delaying flights right now into Philadelphia and into LaGuardia. Those delays about an hour and a half on average, but they could range up to five hours. So, not a pretty picture on the East Coast in those areas right now.
Airports are open right now in Washington, D.C., Raleigh, Durham, Norfolk and Myrtle Beach, but I can tell you that most airlines are not flying in or out of those airports. So, they may be open, but you're not going to have much luck getting in or out.
We're also seeing delays in Atlanta, also in Dallas/Ft. Worth.
Now, a lot of planning, two weeks went into planning Isabel and how they were going to respond. And, in fact, one official telling me today that they're having more problems with a band of thunderstorms over Minnesota and Iowa right now, rerouting traffic, a lot of flights on the East Coast and Isabel have been canceled. So, it's not really affecting things as much as rerouting that traffic in the Midwest, causing some real problems here at the command center.
Back to you.
O'BRIEN: Yes, and, Patty, we were talking to Rally Caparas a little while ago about this, too. One of the things that I'm sure is helping things out is that one of the mega hubs like Atlanta or O'Hare has not been impacted by all of this.
DAVIS: Right. Well, Atlanta we're starting to see some problems in Atlanta just because of a ripple effect. O'Hare, no, we're not seeing any problems at this point. But as I said, those thunderstorms in the Midwest, we could be seeing some problems there soon, too.
O'BRIEN: All right...
DAVIS: So, not looking good in several parts of the country right now.
O'BRIEN: Thanks, Patty Davis. Appreciate it.
PHILLIPS: From FAA control center there.
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 September 18, 2003 - 14:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Traveling is not a good thing right now. considering the hurricane.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Stay put.
PHILLIPS: Plain and simple. Amtrak is refining its train schedule.
O'BRIEN: Stay put.
PHILLIPS: A lot of flights have been canceled.
Patty Davis, of course, has been following it all.
O'BRIEN: She is at the FAA command center, where they have sort of a look at the big picture in Herndon, Virginia.
Hello -- Patty.
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Miles. Hi, Kyra.
The FAA says that what's really helping them out here is a lot of airlines have canceled flights. It's making their job a lot easier.
As you can see, this is the FAA's map of Isabel, and the red lines here are the routes that they're sending airplanes around. They're sending a lot of the air traffic around to the west right now of Isabel.
Surprisingly, though, they say that there are a few planes that are flying over Isabel at 20,000 to 30,000 feet. Those pilots are reporting a pretty smooth ride.
Now, because of the wind gusts and the weather, the FAA is delaying flights right now into Philadelphia and into LaGuardia. Those delays about an hour and a half on average, but they could range up to five hours. So, not a pretty picture on the East Coast in those areas right now.
Airports are open right now in Washington, D.C., Raleigh, Durham, Norfolk and Myrtle Beach, but I can tell you that most airlines are not flying in or out of those airports. So, they may be open, but you're not going to have much luck getting in or out.
We're also seeing delays in Atlanta, also in Dallas/Ft. Worth.
Now, a lot of planning, two weeks went into planning Isabel and how they were going to respond. And, in fact, one official telling me today that they're having more problems with a band of thunderstorms over Minnesota and Iowa right now, rerouting traffic, a lot of flights on the East Coast and Isabel have been canceled. So, it's not really affecting things as much as rerouting that traffic in the Midwest, causing some real problems here at the command center.
Back to you.
O'BRIEN: Yes, and, Patty, we were talking to Rally Caparas a little while ago about this, too. One of the things that I'm sure is helping things out is that one of the mega hubs like Atlanta or O'Hare has not been impacted by all of this.
DAVIS: Right. Well, Atlanta we're starting to see some problems in Atlanta just because of a ripple effect. O'Hare, no, we're not seeing any problems at this point. But as I said, those thunderstorms in the Midwest, we could be seeing some problems there soon, too.
O'BRIEN: All right...
DAVIS: So, not looking good in several parts of the country right now.
O'BRIEN: Thanks, Patty Davis. Appreciate it.
PHILLIPS: From FAA control center there.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
