Passenger Outrage Rises as Storm Snarls U.S. Travel

(Updates number of delayed flights in ninth and eleventh paragraphs.)

Dec. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Anger mounted over passengers stranded on airport tarmacs and in terminals as flight delays threatened to stretch into the weekend following the worst December snowstorm to hit New York City in six decades.

As many as 1.2 million airline customers may have been affected by almost 8,000 flight cancellations as the storm that hit three days ago closed major airports. Passengers were forced to try to make new plans, sometimes without being able to reach airlines by phone or online for help.

"There's a haphazard strategy to how airlines address these issues," said Brandon Macsata, executive director of the Association for Airline Passenger Rights. "That's why passengers get so angry. It's not about the weather. It's about how airlines communicate after weather occurs."

The disruptions affected the nation's largest and most- congested air travel market during one of the busiest times of the year. With planes already flying at their fullest since World War II, carriers were struggling to find empty seats to rebook travelers.

Sara Schaefer, a 27-year-old psychology student from Munich, said she arrived at New York's John F. Kennedy airport yesterday to find her American Eagle flight to Norfolk, Virginia, wouldn't be taking off because three of the four runways were closed and "little planes" were canceled.

"I called the airline and they said it's mother earth and out of our control," said Schaefer, who traveled to the U.S. with her fiancé on Christmas Day. She returned to Manhattan last night to catch a bus slated to arrive in Norfolk at 6 a.m. today.

Tarmac Fines

The U.S. Transportation Department is looking into details of the New York flight delays and will review other cases, Olivia Alair, an agency spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was being updated on the crisis.

LaHood, who helped push through a regulation allowing domestic carriers to be fined for tarmac delays of more than three hours, made no public comments. International flights aren't covered by the rule.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the three major airports in metropolitan New York, pointed the finger at the airlines after at least six international flights were stuck on the tarmac at Kennedy airport with passengers aboard because they had no gates to use.

"It is an airline's responsibility to make sure before they leave their point of origin to make sure that they have a gate assignment," said Steve Coleman, a Port Authority spokesman. "These airlines did not. So they got to the airport and had no place to dock."

'More Effort'

Passengers on a Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. flight were stuck on the tarmac at Kennedy for nearly 12 hours yesterday as they waited for a gate. Four other services operated by the carrier were also stranded for more than four hours, Cathay said in a statement today apologizing for delays. More than 1,100 people were onboard the five flights, it said. A British Airways Plc plane with 316 people onboard waited for nearly eight hours.

"These people should put in a bit more effort," Kathy Kia, 31, said of the airlines. Kia was stuck at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport Dec. 27 when her flight to LaGuardia was canceled. She was told she couldn't be guaranteed a seat until Dec. 31, and placed on standby for an American Airlines flight yesterday.

Call-Center Waits

Other passengers complained about spending 90 minutes on hold before reaching reservations agents, or not being able to get an answer at all. AMR Corp.'s American and US Airways Group Inc. added agents to field calls or put workers on mandatory overtime.

Carriers struggled once the snow stopped to relocate aircraft and crews while factoring in airport employees unable to travel to work after New York's heaviest December snowfall since 1948 hampered local train service.

Some New York subway lines remained partially blocked yesterday, streets waited to be cleared of snow and stranded vehicles and numerous bus routes remained suspended.