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."

FMI: www.american.com, www.southwest.com