My brother was supposed to be back from visiting his children and grandchildren in New Jersey late Monday night. He might make it back tonight. He at least had somewhere to sleep for two nights; many other travelers found themselves stranded with the hotels booked solid. At least last night I knew by 10:00 p.m. that there was no point in staying up to pick him up at the airport.
Stormy weather disrupted air travel across the New York City area Tuesday as rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms moved through the region.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued ground stops at all three major airports — LaGuardia Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport — shortly before 8 a.m.
The ground stops were lifted around 10:30 a.m., but delays and cancellations continued throughout the day. The FAA reported more than 1,300 cancellations across the three airports.
So I suppose the big problem is the lack of excess capacity and air traffic controller staffing shortages at these NYC area airposrts–so it takes a very long time to recover.
I was on a flight from JFK yesterday scheduled for a 9am departure. It took off about 10am, mostly because it was in a long line of planes waiting for a takeoff slot.
This past February, I was supposed to fly home from Calgary through Denver to Hartford, Connecticut on a Sunday.
The second connecting flight from Denver to Hartford was cancelled due to a big snow storm in the Northeast. So they rebooked me to the next day (Monday). Then that flight was cancelled around noon on Monday.
I was on a group ski trip, and the trip organizers basically told everyone in the group that we were on our own at that point, because it would take days to get us all out on the same flight. And the earliest flight we could find was Thursday evening.
So I and three others from the trip grabbed a one-way minivan rental and drove from Denver to Hartford without stopping for anything but fuel. It took 28 hours, and we got home Tuesday evening.
The airline refunded our flight home. And my travel insurance should cover any excess costs (still need to submit a claim).
The bottom line is that airlines fly so full these days that they don’t have much excess capacity in case of flight cancellations. And they have no liability in case of weather delays or cancellations, so they don’t have much incentive to get passengers to their destinations in a timely fashion if there is a problem due to weather.
Denver to Hartford is a crazy long distance to drive, especially in winter.
It’s one of the reasons why I abhor air travel now. Your flight gets cancelled (due to weather, mechanical issues, crew unavailability, etc.), and, because later flights on your route are also at or near capacity anyway, rebooking becomes a nightmare.
Tell me about it. Especially when driving with acquaintances from a group trip who were determined to do it “Cannonball Run” style.
Google Maps says the driving time is 28 hours. It took us 28 hours and 45 minutes. The 45 minutes consisted of stopping for fuel 5 times.
I will tell you that Nebraska and Iowa go on forever.
I think I saw this movie. Did you catch a ride with a chatty and affable traveling shower-curtain-ring salesman?
When I was a kid, I took the Greyhound on the parallel roads to I80. You get a little highway hypnosis even when you’re just riding. I swear we went through the same town three times. Maybe they all look alike.
Yeah, I remember a family trip where getting through Iowa seemed like it took weeks. Didn’t help that my dad decided to take a “shortcut,” and we saw the same exact scenery the whole time.
My brother will be taking a three-leg trip today: Newark to Columbus, Columbus to Chicago, Chicago to Minneapolis. At least he’s out of the East Coast at this writing, so the next two legs are less likely to go wrong.
I don’t think it matters what way you drive through Iowa, it looks the same no matter what. My ex has family in Lincoln Nebraska and we would make the drive from NE Indiana a couple times a year. Twelve to 13 hour drive and I’m pretty sure 10 of it was in Iowa.
I spent a weekend in Iowa one night.
Iowa is only 315 miles wide. If that takes you more than 6 hours you are doing something wrong.
It’s the scenery. Ya gotta slow down and admire it.
I drove partway across Iowa in March 2013. Actually, I drove from the Laredo, Texas-Mexico border to Grinnell. Nothing says “eternity is bleak” like the Iowa interstate in springtime snow flurries.
Especially when the airlines are so very willing to seize upon any excuse to claim “weather” or other emergencies that void their responsibilities to their passengers.
On a recent visit by a friend flying into Denver, his flight was delayed by several hours because of “extreme weather in Denver.” Meanwhile, I was sitting AT the airport for over two hours of it and the worst weather event was a 5 minute sunshower, with otherwise clear horizons.
But because it was “weather” the carrier didn’t have to help anyone who missed their connections.
[ I acknowledge that there could easily have been more severe weather elsewhere along the path, but what he and the passengers were told was "extreme weather in Denver.]
Kansas and Pennsylvania are grim as well.
Were you in Grinnell for high-class entertainment or for schoolin’?
Nah - although Grinnell College is pretty wonderful, as far as I can tell. Grinnell was my mother’s home town, and she FINALLY consented to move back there to a retirement community after a number of years of petulant widowhood in Ajijic, Mexico. Very long story, and not a pretty one, but I’m hugely relieved she died in the US and not Mexico.
Update: my brother got home on time Wed. night, although it was a very long day of multiple flights, layovers and long treks between gates. He’s 82 and this was something of an ordeal.