Frustration soars at airport

Dozens of flights cancelled. U.S.-bound passengers complain of airlines' poor customer service

 

 

 

1. A flight information board shows the status of flights at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.

Blizzard warnings and heavy storm surges hitting eastern Canada and the United States since Sunday have spared Montreal but left many holiday travellers frustrated at airports across the country.

The biggest lineups at Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport yesterday were for travellers stranded after their flights through New York, Newark, Boston, Atlanta and Philadelphia airports were cancelled or delayed.

One tear-streaked woman pushing a caddy piled with suitcases and a caged cat cried into her cellphone that she wouldn't be able to get a flight to Panama for five days.

Ticket-holders for popular Continental Airlines complained yesterday of shoddy customer service because the airline refused to respond to telephone calls after cancelling New York flights.

A recorded message directed travellers to Continental's website: " ... due to the weather in the northeast we're experiencing unusually high call volume and are unable to take your call."

Julien Dupasquier, 20, was to fly to Switzerland via New York with his two older brothers for a ski holiday and discovered on the website that the flight was cancelled.

"They should have let us know," he said, standing in a lineup of 50 people that snaked slowly up to a counter.

"They are telling us nothing," he said as his brother Pierre failed to find a direct flight to Geneva with another airline for under $2,500 per person.

"There goes plan B," he said. "We might have to cancel the trip altogether."

An Aeroports de Montreal spokesperson said at least 67 flights to and from the northeastern U.S. were cancelled yesterday, as well as another 22 domestic flights to and from the Maritimes.

Brendan Rehel, a McGill University track-and-field team member heading to San Diego for field training camp, said he was lucky to find a flight in three days.

"I was looking for any other route. I'm losing three days, but hey, bad weather happens," Rehel said.

But Carole St. Jean said she already lost 48 hours trying to rebook her boyfriend's flight back home to Davie, Fla., where Tom Nolan runs an equestrian business.

His Continental flight had been arranged via Air Canada, she explained, but rather than handling the booking, officials referred travellers to Continental. An anxious Nolan said he's worried about getting home to take care of business.

Several passengers, including Carol Renshaw, a West Island school teacher going to London via Newark, used their cellphones to hunt for new routes while inching forward in the lineup.

By late afternoon, Renshaw hit the jackpot. "I got a total refund and a flight on Air Canada at 7:30 p.m. that's direct and cheaper," she said.

Airline officials said New York and Newark airports were to reopen as of last night. But it's not clear when Montreal flights will resume.