This story was sent to you by: Bill Hough -------------------- Airport delays leave passengers fuming -------------------- BY EMERSON CLARRIDGE and MARUXA RELANO emerson.clarridge@xxxxxxxxxxx and maruxa.relano@xxxxxxxxxxx July 12, 2007 Martin Treat sat in a bar at LaGuardia Airport Wednesday afternoon, sipping whiskey on the rocks and fuming that he and his wife couldn't get to Cleveland to meet their newborn grandson. "They shipped us all around like packages. We are UPS packages. How many days can you take this?" he asked no one in particular. Treat and his wife, Kathleen, of Hell's Kitchen, were among hundreds stranded after dozens of flights up and down the East Coast were canceled for a second consecutive day because of stormy weather in the nation's midsection. At LaGuardia, it was a daylong test of patience for many passengers who said they were offered no explanation about when the nightmare would end. Wednesday night, departure monitors at the airport listed cities to which no one would be flying for the foreseeable future. Grounded were flights to Toronto, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Raleigh, N.C., Washington, D.C., Cleveland and Detroit. There were four American Airlines flights to Chicago; all were canceled. The Treats, who are retired, were back at the airport Wednesday -- just as they had been on Tuesday -- for a 4:40 p.m. American flight. When they learned the flight again had been canceled, the couple headed to the bar. Kathleen had a beer; Martin opted for the whiskey and told his wife he might need another. He said airline ticket agents were short on answers. "Yesterday was the weather," Martin said. "They can't apologize for that, but today they didn't mention anything." American did not immediately respond to an e-mail request for comment. The delays took a toll on stressed airline employees, who faced the wrath of angry customers. Maria Rosario, an American Airlines baggage handler, said she was doing her best. "Yesterday we worked like animals trying to help people find where to go, where to sleep ... and it looks like today is going to turn out the same as yesterday," she said, speaking in Spanish. Some passengers said nearby hotels were overflowing with stranded passengers. Would-be Continental Airlines passengers Monique and Jason Cowart, newlyweds from Beaumont, Texas, came to the city for their honeymoon. They have been trying to return home for three days. When their 5:50 p.m. flight was canceled, they plopped down on the terminal floor and opened a laptop computer. The couple girded themselves for a long night of uncomfortable dozing until the ticket counter opened at 3 a.m. They were hoping to fly standby on a morning flight. "They wouldn't give us a voucher or room or anything," Monique, 20, said. "They said there was nothing they could do for us." The most frustrating part, they said, was watching as an elderly couple actually got to board a plane. An airline agent explained to them that the couple's ticket was "protected." That didn't assuage an exhausted Jason, 27. "Monique was in tears, and I was so upset I had to go and cool off," he said. -------------------- This article originally appeared at: http://www.amny.com/news/local/transportation/am-air0712,0,390046.story?coll=am-transportation-headlines Visit AM New York online at http://www.amny.com <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".