Passengers stuck at NY, Newark airports due to snowstorm

While domestic flight schedules have gone awry because of the dense fog in Delhi, hundreds of passengers headed to Mumbai are stuck at New York and Newark airports in US, which are shut since Sunday because of a snow storm.
While an Air India flight for New York had to be diverted to Washington, another could not take off from Newark for Mumbai because the runway was covered with snow. Meanwhile, Jet Airways cancelled four of its flights between Brussels and New York and Newark on Sunday.
Passengers alleged they were left to fend for themselves. Dr Tilu Mangeshikar, a senior doctor from Bombay Hospital who was booked on a Jet flight from New York to Mumbai on Sunday, said, “I rang every hour till 3 pm for the Jet Airways flight to Mumbai via Brussels.
The airline staff said their flight is on schedule. We boarded the plane. The ground staff tried to de-ice the plane till past 7 pm and then the flight was cancelled. Why did they announce the flight and check-in passengers when all other flights from New York were being cancelled?’’
“We waited till 10 pm to collect our bags. Initially, the airline refused to provide us with hotel accommodation disclaiming liability as it was a cancellation owing to bad weather. Passengers were cold, hungry and had to sleep on trolleys and conveyer belts at the airport. We were shifted to a hotel only at 9 am,’’ she alleged. “We have been informed that our flight will take off from New York on 6 pm on Monday,’’ she added.
28/12/10 Aneesh Phadnis/Mumbai Mirror

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Categories: Airports Dec 2010, Foreign Dec 2010