Over 2,000 Commercial Flights Cancelled, In Addition To GA
Damage
As has been reported in
Aero-News, the full effects of Hurricane Wilma's
Monday morning trip through Florida are just now being
realized by pilots, airlines and stranded
passengers alike.
The FAA reports nine Florida airports were closed due to the
hurricane, including Miami International Airport, Fort
Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, and Palm Beach
International. Most remained closed Tuesday, or open to only
limited flight operations.
Miami International Airport, which is Florida's
busiest hub for foreign travel as well as the
busiest national hub for Latin American travel, was a virtual
ghost town Monday night, as stranded passengers were taken to
shelters and crews worked to keep power flowing from emergency
generators.
"The bottom line is, it has basically disrupted or stopped the
traffic flowing from Latin America into North America," said
American Airlines spokesman John Hotard to the Associated Press.
"Miami is a major point, and this is a major disruption."
Hotard added American flies over 500 scheduled flights per day
at Miami International.
Officials stated that resuming normal operations at MIA before
the end of the week would be an "enormous" effort.
Southwest Airlines faired a little better at its operations at
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International, Palm Beach International,
and Fort Myers Regional. Operations were suspended at the three
airports Monday and Tuesday, although Southwest hoped to resume
something of a normal schedule at Fort Lauderdale by Tuesday
afternoon.
The airline worked to anticipate potential problems, said
Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King, including positioning its 737s
at other airports to wait out the storm. "When we resume depends on
the condition of those airports," King said. "We didn't leave
planes at those airports to get stuck."
Most travellers understand how these closures affect their
plans, Hotard said, and that the airlines to will try to help
people get where they need to go... within their abilities. "When
we can accommodate them, we try to, but most of our passengers are
going to have to wait until we get going again."
"We always tell people to check the Web site or their travel
agency," he said. "Most people know that when the hub is closed or
the airport is closed, they're not flying tomorrow."