Travel week called 'nightmare'

Travel week called 'nightmare'
Bad weather, equipment problems trigger airport delays

The Thanksgiving travel week got off to a rocky start Monday as bad weather and equipment problems triggered airport delays that could worsen when a storm brings rain and snow to the center of the USA on Wednesday.

A front brewing in the Northwest is forecast to spread severe weather from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico and east to Vermont on one of the highest-volume travel days of the year, said Tom Moore, senior meteorologist at The Weather Channel.

"Wednesday is going to be a nightmare over a lot of the country," Moore said. "Although it's not going to be a colossal storm, there's going to be so much rain and low clouds, I would say there are going to be significant delays over large parts of the country."

Airlines are predicting record numbers of passengers during the 12-day period surrounding Thursday's holiday, with about 90% of seats filled. President Bush last week took the unusual step of announcing several measures aimed at reducing delays, which have hit record levels this year.

People flying during the Thanksgiving holiday — particularly on the three busiest travel days, Wednesday and next Sunday and Monday — should be prepared to be late and face disruptions, said Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, a consumer advocacy group. "Lower your expectations and build as much time in as you possibly can," he said.

Rain, fog and wind triggered delays Monday in Chicago, the New York City region and Philadelphia.

A communication glitch in the Federal Aviation Administration's two control towers at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport also caused delays that stretched through the day, American Airlines spokesman Tim Wagner said.

The delays affected about 75% of American's flights in Dallas but caused only a handful of cancellations and missed connections, Wagner said.

A software problem on the computer system that transmits voice communications between air-traffic facilities in the region was the cause, FAA spokesman Paul Takemoto said.

The storm will bring markedly colder temperatures and mostly rain as it marches east of the Rocky Mountains on Wednesday, Moore said. Rain will turn to snow in Chicago, while sometimes-intense thunderstorms will hit the Gulf Coast up through Kentucky.

Such conditions mean reduced visibility and precipitation, which typically slow arrivals at many airports, Moore said.

The storm is not expected to reach the major airports in New York or the rest of the East Coast until late Wednesday or early Thursday. Thanksgiving is among the most lightly traveled days.

This year's record airline delays have triggered weeks of finger-pointing and political jockeying. At one point, delays in the New York City region caused three-quarters of all late flights across the country, according to the FAA.

"Weather and volume are the biggest drivers of delay," said David Castelveter, spokesman for the Air Transport Association, which represents large carriers. "If this weather pattern continues, we will have both."