Floyd Strands U.S. Air Travelers
By ANICK JESDANUN
09-15-99 0439EDT
Florida was not the best place to be a traveler. Hurricane Floyd stranded
thousands of vacationers and business travelers around the country when airline and rail
service in and out of Florida ground to a halt. American Airlines canceled nearly 400
domestic and international flights through Miami, one of the carrier's four main hubs.
Delta Air Lines also canceled some flights stopping in Savannah, Ga.
In mid-afternoon, Continental Airlines canceled all its remaining Florida-bound
flights from Newark International Airport in New Jersey, airline spokeswoman Michelle
Tracy said. It flies 60 or 70 times a day from Newark to Florida cities.
Continental also would probably cancel flights to coastal South Carolina and
Georgia, Tracy said. US Airways shut down operations in coastal Florida and South Carolina
cities, Savannah, Ga., and in the Bahamas.
Tourists at Miami International Airport faced a second night of sleeping on the
floor as hotels filled to capacity. Some tourists were out of money. Long lines formed at
Burger King and other airport businesses still open for business.
``It was complete chaos,'' said Dolores Person, an Irish tourist who missed a
connection to London on a four-month trip around the world. ``It was a really nice trip --
until we got here.''
The storm also thwarted travel plans elsewhere.
``My customers are very upset with all these cancellations,'' said Sid
Steersman, owner of Steersman Travel Agency in Philadelphia. ``When you wait a couple
months to go on vacation, you're going to be disappointed.''
Joyce Stephen's of Jesup, Ga., was stuck in Chicago after three weeks traveling
in the West and Canada.
``Nobody has any idea how we can get home,'' she said. ``It's all according to
the weather. They don't have any control over it, and neither do we.''
Several airlines relaxed travel restrictions, allowing passengers to make flight
changes without the usual penalty or higher fares.
Nevertheless, under the standard ``contract of carriage'' printed on tickets,
airlines are not required to provide lodging, meals or other accommodations for
weather-related delays or cancellations.
Train service was affected, too. CSX Corp., a rail company that also moves
freight on its lines, was sharply curtailing its operations because of the storm,
affecting Amtrak and commuter lines.
Besides earlier cancellations into Miami, Amtrak canceled service on CSX lines
between Washington and Miami, Washington and Pittsburgh, and some areas of Michigan. About
30 to 40 Amtrak trains run on the tracks each day.
CSX, which has a central dispatching facility in Jacksonville, Fla., allowed its
dispatchers to leave work to tend to their own homes, said Rob Gould, a company spokesman.
``It's the prudent course to cancel the service,'' he said.
(PROFILE (CO:AMR Corporation; TS:AMR; IG:AIR;) (CO:Delta Airlines; TS:DAL;
IG:AIR;) (CO:Continental Airlines Inc; TS:CAL;) (CO:CSX Corp; TS:CSX; IG:RAI;) )
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