American Airlines Cancels S. Fla. Flights To Haiti
MIAMI (CBS4) - A major U.S. air carrier has canceled all flights in and out of Port-au-Prince, Haiti to Miami and Ft. Lauderdale due to the unsettled political atmosphere and recent violence in the last few weeks.
According to American Airlines spokeswoman Martha Pantin airport employees in Port-au-Prince were unable to get to work Wednesday because of demonstrations in the street.
"This comes at a very, very bad time. People are traveling back and forth to Haiti all the time. All the time," said Marlene Bastien, executive director of FANM Haitian Women of Miami.
The cancellations affect flights to and from Port-au-Prince from Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and New York. It also affects the American Eagle flight to San Juan via Santa Domingo.
Flights canceled for Wednesday included three to and from Miami, one to and from Ft. Lauderdale, one to and from New York and one from San Juan via Santa Domingo.
American Airlines said the will continue to monitor the situation in Haiti and the decision to cancel flights will be made on a day by day basis.
Some Haitian voters are protesting because they believe the November 28th first-round election was flawed.
"Less than one million were able to vote. People were taken out of the rue de rose, people didn't know where to go," said Bastien.
Michel "Sweet Mickey" Martelly was seen as the popular candidate, but the preliminary results showed he didn't even make it to the second round. Even the U.S. Embassy in Haiti questioned the results, but Martelly wants the violence on the streets to end.
"We don't think it's worth it to destroy our country or to let Haiti move into utter chaos," said Martelly.
Bastien believes the government in Haiti needs to act quickly to restore trust in the electoral process.
"They need to find a way to restore calm," she said.
So far, Delta and Spirit have not canceled their flights to and from Port-au-Prince.
American Airlines plans to resume flights to Haiti on Saturday, if the situation in Port-au-Prince changes. If you have an American Airlines ticket for December 8 to 10, you have until December 14th to reschedule your flight.
Current President Rene Preval called for calm Wednesday. He also reportedly acknowledged that there was "certainly" fraud in Haiti's elections.
