On a Wing and a Prayer ; Some Travelers Stuck in Springs May Not Make It Home for Holidays
By SARAH COLWELL THE GAZETTE
About 40 travelers forced to spend the night at the Colorado Springs Airport are hoping the blizzard breaks and packed holiday flights can resume today.
If the snow and wind persist, and more flights are canceled, some passengers may not get where they’re going by Christmas.
Even with improving weather, some who hoped to leave Wednesday will not be able to fly out until the weekend.
Airport officials recommend travelers check with their airlines before leaving for the airport.
More than a dozen travelers curled up near the fireplace at the Colorado Springs Airport on Wednesday, ready to wait out the night after a blizzard canceled flights, closed highways and blanketed the city with snow.
Red Cross officials dropped off blankets and more than a dozen cots for stranded passengers, and airport officials hauled out another 150 blankets. Airport staff went to the grocery store to buy baby formula and diapers.
A restaurant remained open at 8:30 p.m. and was expected to have a “last call” a bit later in the evening, airport officials said.
Wednesday was the first time travelers have spent a night at the airport since an October 1997 blizzard, according to John McGinley, aviation assistant director of operations.
Fourteen flights took off Wednesday morning before the storm hit, McGinley said. Throughout the day, airline officials adopted a “wait- andsee” policy, hoping the storm would break. But by mid-morning, remaining flights were canceled because of low visibility and high winds, McGinley said. Visibility was about onetenth of a mile, and wind gusts were 53 miles per hour throughout the day, according to the National Weather Service in Pueblo.
The airport remained open, but travelers were discouraged from going to the airport without flight confirmation.
One flight was able to land shortly after 5 p.m., McGinley said, and possibly was going to take off later.
The airport set up a call center Wednesday and updated its Web site throughout the day with flight information.
Mary Edmonds called ahead Wednesday to check the status of her flight and learned it was a go, but when she arrived, she discovered it had been canceled.
“I can’t get home. And my Christmas shopping is not done. The earliest they can book me is Saturday,” said the Scottsdale, Ariz., resident, who was visiting on business. “And I’m lucky. Some people are not going to get home until Christmas Eve because all the flights are full the rest of the week.”
Schylar Oraze’s Wednesday afternoon flight to California was canceled, and the earliest available flight he was able to get leaves Friday.
“It stinks because I only have 22 days of leave, and this takes away two days of my leave,” said Oraze who was flying home to see family for Christmas. He returned from Iraq with the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team in November.
John Catalano of Pueblo was told he might be able to catch another flight to Los Angeles the day after Christmas.
“I can’t go back home, the highway is closed, the hotels are booked,” he said. “Looks like I’ll be staying here tonight.”
Hotel managers said business picked up considerably throughout the day. The Comfort Inn and Hampton Inn airport locations went from 50 percent occupancy to full, said Liz Nowicki, Comfort Inn hospitality manager.
“Our shuttle bus has been running eight hours straight. It’s good for us,” she said. “If the snow keeps up we expect our guests will be staying longer.”
AIRPORT INFO.
For airport information, call 719-550-1972 or go to www.springsgov.com/AirportIndex.asp
(c) 2006 Gazette, The; Colorado Springs, Colo.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.