Creativity key to bypassing flight cancellations
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">Get creative. Be determined. Expect more.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">Such is the advice from fliers and area airport officials as the Federal Aviation Administration warns the hundreds of flight cancellations at American Airlines this week likely will spread to other carriers in coming weeks.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">"I figured I was on my own to get home," former Springfield resident John Herath said Thursday.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">Herath, who worked for the Illinois Department of Agriculture in Springfield and now lives near Belleville, said he learned via text message from American Airlines that his Wednesday flight from Washington, D.C., to St. Louis had been canceled.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">A phone call to Southwest Airlines followed by a cab, bus and train ride to Baltimore - yes, he and a co-worker compared the side trip to Steve Martin and John Candy in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" - and he managed to get back to St. Louis just a couple of hours later than scheduled on Wednesday.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">He still hasn't heard from American Airlines, and whether he'll get a refund of a $260 round-trip ticket that wasn't quite round-trip. The Southwest flight cost $433 for the two travelers.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">"I've made well over a dozen phone calls and haven't been able to get through," said Herath.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">American canceled 900 more flights Thursday, including in Chicago, bringing the total to 2,400 since Tuesday. Airline representatives told The Associated Press the carrier hopes to be back to normal by Saturday night.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">Julie Pittman of Springfield at least was able to stay with American when she found out Wednesday her Thursday return flight from Fort Myers, Fla., to St. Louis had been canceled. But it came only after a night on the phone.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">"I'd been calling all night, and they kept putting me on hold. When I finally got through, they were very nice and accommodating," Pittman said in a phone interview from Florida, just prior to their flight.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">She and her family also had to take a connection through Minneapolis to reach St. Louis.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">"It's not been that bad. At least we're flying, though I hear they (Minneapolis) are supposed to get snow," said Pittman.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">Commuter-flight connections have not been much of a problem, but the director of the Greater Peoria Regional Airport said some fliers have found unusual routes around cancellations at hub airports in Chicago, St. Louis and Dallas.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">"We're seeing people who originate in Chicago come through Peoria, and then go on to Dallas. They can't get from Chicago to Dallas, but they can go from Chicago to Peoria to Dallas, and the reverse is true," said Ken Spirito.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">Of course, most don't have much choice, he added.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">"They are finding empty seats and trying to accommodate people. It's either you don't get there, or this is the way you get there," said Spirito.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">Customer Service Center manager Pam Minder said American passengers also have been rerouted through Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield after flights between St. Louis and Chicago were grounded.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">American passengers have been rebooked on United Express to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago at no extra cost, if seats are available. American does not fly between Springfield and Chicago.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">"It's called 'involuntary rerouting,' and it's not that uncommon," said Minder.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">Still, there's one passenger Minder said she wonders about - a fellow who ground shipped his bowling balls ahead for a tournament in Phoenix with plans to fly American from Springfield to Phoenix via St. Louis and Dallas connection.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">"He went out this (Thursday) morning, then I heard his St. Louis to Dallas to Phoenix flight was canceled, so I'm not sure if he made it," said Minder.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">Tim Landis can be reached at (217) 788-1536.