Travelers across the nation waited for flights to resume after East Coast airports were shut down by Tropical Storm Irene over the weekend.
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Irene was downgraded from a hurricane Sunday as winds ebbed around the time that the storm pushed into New York, the nation's busiest air-traffic region.
Federal officials said airports reopened around Washington, which took a glancing blow from Irene. American Airlines said it was resuming flights at the three major airports around the capital.
New York-area airports remained closed on Sunday and were expected to reopen late Monday, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The longer that New York's Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark, N.J., airports are shuttered, the worse it will be as travel delays ripple across the country.
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Some very limited public transport was starting to resume with a few bus services running, but the head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it was too soon to say when the New York subway system would return. Commuter lines that bring many people into the city from surrounding areas were also still out.
Stuck in Mexico
Nicole Whitney Sobel was supposed to fly home to Boston from Cancun, Mexico, on Sunday. However, she found herself stranded in Mexico for a few more days after learning that her connecting flight in Charlotte, N.C., was canceled.
"I was disappointed when I found out I wouldn't be home in time because I have appointments and meetings that I need to get back home for, which I now had to cancel and re-schedule from Mexico with limited phone access," she told msnbc.com.
However, the 25-year-old freelance writer, who is in Mexico on a work-related trip, says things could be worse. She could have been stuck at the Charlotte airport trying to arrange accommodations and transportation. Instead, she's at a luxury resort in Riviera Maya. "The sun is out today, and guests are laying out by the pool and on the beach," she said.
She hopes to get rebooked on a new flight home as early as Tuesday.
Airlines said passengers should call ahead and make sure they have a confirmed seat before going to the airport. (Click here for rebooking tips as well as a list of airline Twitter feeds and websites.)
More than 10,000 flights were canceled through Monday, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking website.
Some airports reopening Monday
JetBlue Airways expected to resume flights in New York and Boston around midday Monday.
"It's really dependent upon mass transit and the airport being ready to support the start-up," JetBlue CEO Dave Barger told NBC.
United and Continental airlines would decide on Monday's schedule later Sunday after checking facilities for storm damage, said company spokeswoman Julie King.
Airlines have already canceled thousands of flights for Sunday, but it was unclear how much havoc the storm would cause for travelers. Many planes have been full this summer, so finding empty seats for passengers whose first flight was canceled could be difficult.
Airlines have already canceled thousands of flights. United, Continental, Delta, American, Southwest and JetBlue canceled all Sunday flights in the New York and Philadelphia areas long before Irene hit. They also moved planes out of the storm's path to avoid damage, further slowing the recovery of normal service.
FlightAware said airlines had indicated about 500 cancellations for Monday, said the service's CEO, Daniel Baker. That would be a very small percentage of the nation's flights.
The storm affected other forms of transportation, too. Amtrak canceled many passenger trains, Greyhound scrubbed trips between Washington and New York, and cruise lines changed some of their itineraries as Irene made its way from the Bahamas to the Northeast.
Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was included in this report.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44304979/ns/travel-news/
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