Area Airports Will Take Days To Get Back To Normal
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- When it snows that fast, it wreaks havoc on travel, and especially on air travel.
Runways at John F. Kennedy Airport were still covered in snow on Monday evening, much of still blowing around.
JFK, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International Airport were all reopened as of 6 p.m. after the winter storm caused thousands of flights to be cancelled in the area. American Airlines announced Monday night flights out of LaGuardia will resume on Tuesday.
Newark Liberty | John F. Kennedy | LaGuardia
Even though Newark Airport has reopened the situation may have gone from bad to worse.
Thousands of people were stuck in one single line -- the entire length of Terminal C -- waiting just to get information about their flight, 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reported.
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1010 WINS Reporter Glenn Schuck talks with folks eager to get on their way out of Newark.
One woman from Canada, who spent two days sleeping on the floor at Newark Airport hoping to finally get to Disney World, spoke to Schuck about her frustrations.
"I can get back to Canada faster than I can get to Florida. I can get back to Canada and fly out of Canada over this place to Florida and get there quicker," she said.
Clean-up crews have been out in full force, but keeping up with the snow has been no easy task, reports CBS 2's Wendy Gillette.
There was no post-holiday present for hundreds of stranded passengers at LaGuardia Airport.
Take Christopher Parker, for example. He first encountered travel troubles while heading to stormy London. He gave up on a European vacation and is now trying to make his way back home to Ontario, Canada.
1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reports on passengers enduring long wait at Newark Airport
"This is our fourth flight that's been canceled and we've been on three continents," Parker told Gillette.
Cleo Raimone celebrated her birthday in the food court, but was trying to stay upbeat.
"All these wonderful people have come in to celebrate with me," Raimone said.
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The airport opened one of two runways at 4 p.m., but the general manager expected just a few flights to arrive or depart.
It will take days to return to normal operations. The line at American Airlines to rebook snaked at least 10 layers back from the ticket counters. Also, many passengers reported getting reports from American's website that were inaccurate.
"I went back to the airport this morning because at 11:45 a.m. it said our flight was on time on the website. I come to the airport to find out the airport is closed, and that all the flights are canceled until tomorrow. I am not pleased with American's customer service at this point in time and will write a letter to them," one passenger said.
"It's the beginning of a nightmare I can see because my next booking is on the 31st – four days -- so I'm looking to spend a few extra days in Queens," another passenger said.
