Crowds at Delta’s JFK Terminal revolt
Delta tells Consumerist blog, “We apologize to these customers for this delay and have been working around the clock to get our customers home for the holidays despite the disruptions caused by weather over the last few days.”
“Delta At JFK Airport Has Minor Delays After Police Break Up A Fight Between Passengers At Terminal, No Injured.” The Port Authority tells Fox 5 that the situation is now under control, and police were called in by Delta “to help maintain order and help customer service representatives that bore the brunt of the anger.” Another Port Authority spokesman confirmed the security situation, but added, “It’s really Delta’s issue.” You don’t say!
A spokesperson for Delta tells 1010WINS that anger boiled over when a group of customers, whose flight to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, was canceled on Sunday, finally snapped. They’ve been trying to get home on standby, but haven’t been having any luck so far. But as Clarice sings in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, “There’s always tomorrow for dreams to come true!” Delta promises they’ll definitely get out on a new flight, now scheduled for Wednesday.
AA Flight #331 crashed upon landing in Jamaica
In a driving rainstorm, AA Flight 331 landed hard and overran the runway in Jamiaca. There were no fatalities and 90 reported injuries.
Fort Worth-based American spokesman Tim Smith said Wednesday that “both engines were removed or taken off the wing as it happened,” as designed to do for safety reasons.
Smith says two of the 148 passengers on Flight 331 from Miami were admitted to a hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries from Tuesday night’s accident in Kingston. Smith says the crew of six also was transported to hospitals, as a precaution.
O’Hare expansion overcomes cemetery relocation
O’Hare Airport in Chicago reached another victory in its quest to build a new runway. The litigation so far has increased the costs by some estimates as much as $3 billion. But the city is still determined to get the new runway built.
The victory marks the end of a year during which the city struck an agreement with the suburb of Bensenville, ending the village’s long-standing challenge to the project and clearing the path for its acquisition and demolition next year of properties in the path of a new runway.
The advances — which come as Chicago plans early in 2010 to sell up to $1.5 billion of new-money and refunding general airport revenue bonds, with some of the proceeds earmarked for the expansion project — represent critical victories. But the overall project enters the new year still facing significant fiscal challenges as struggling airlines refuse to sign off on the future pieces of the plan that include a new western terminal.
Photo: The scene at Delta’s JFK terminal, courtesy joelrclare’s Twitter
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
