Flights Disrupted

As Hurricane Frances continued its inexorable march across the Caribbean toward landfall somewhere on the east coast of Florida, airports faced closure and airlines faced cancellations just ahead of the busy Labor Day weekend.

US Airways, American, Southwest and Continental were all jockeying aircraft around to keep them away from Frances, which bore down on Florida Thursday with sustained winds in excess of 145 miles an hour. Many airlines were allowing passengers to reschedule their flights without penalties in the face of the storm.

"We recommend that travellers flying in the next couple of days contact their respective airlines directly," said Laska Ryan, spokeswoman for Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, in an interview with the Fort Myers News-Press. She added, "of course, the airport is open. We expect it to continue to be open, unless there’s debris on the runway."

But other airports -- especially those along Florida's southeastern coast, weren't expected to fair so well. Delta said it would probably cancel at least some flights to and from Florida as early as Friday morning. US Airways cancelled all flights to the Bahamas Thursday and Friday. In hopes of getting passengers out early, both airlines said they were sending additional flights and bigger aircraft to Florida ahead of the hurricane's arrival.

International carriers cancelled flights into and out of both Orlando and Tampa -- even though those airports weren't expected to see much storm activity until Saturday. British Airways reportedly said it would monitor the situation in Miami and would cancel flight operations there if necessary.

Orlando airports were set to close on Friday, a full day ahead of the storm, although Orlando International Airport pledged to remain open as long as possible.

FMI: www.nhc.noaa.gov