Quantcast

JFK Back to Normal Holiday Travel Hell?

122309airport.jpg There haven't yet been any reports of police dispatched to JFK for crowd control today, so perhaps things are back to their normal level of infuriation. The Sunday snowstorm really created a nightmare for holiday travelers, some of whom are still stuck at the airport! Melissa Ferber, a 29-year-old schoolteacher from Buffalo, has been at JFK since Saturday, when her connecting flight to Fort Myers, Florida was canceled. She's been sleeping on the airport floor ever since, and the stalemate seems to have driven her so completely mad that she's just finally given up and accepted her lot in life.

"I’m making the best of it," Ferber told the Times yesterday, sitting cross-legged on the floor in Terminal 4. "I actually ended up moving a garbage can so I could sleep in the corner. I had never seen anything like it. But it’s a part of traveling. There’s really nothing you can do about it." That is, unless you're trying to get to Haiti, and you get so angry at Delta that the airline calls for police backup—and schedules a new flight just to avert a riot. "People were yelling and screaming, and nobody at Delta wanted this to escalate any further," a Port Authority spokesman said of yesterday's situation.

Delta says most flights are finally running on schedule. Meanwhile, two German tourists, Steffen Bromberger and Simone Ziebell, have been sleeping at JFK since Sunday night, when their flight to Germany was canceled. Their luggage, however, made it home, leaving them behind with few amenities. "In five years, we’ll be laughing about this," Bromberger told the Times. "But I do think it’s important to get home and get new underwear."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

Comments [rss]

  • DLisa

    Ok, I dont get it. I got a ticket waiting to get into Avistar Parking for JFK Airport. Is that even legal? I understand it was the holidays but they had cars all over the conduit blocking traffic. The police eventually came and starting giving out tickets. I was a lucky one.(sarcasm off). Who do I see about this? Do I fight this in court? On what grounds? Help!?!??!

  • wonka_vision

    Call me crazy but I'm a banana! Just kidding I'm a tangerine. But don't call me crazy. Call me Carl.

  • IvoryJive

    Call me crazy but couldn't airlines provide some kind of emergency accommodations in the terminals for stranded customers with no other options, instead of having them sleeping on the floor behind a garbage can like stray dogs?

  • buttface

    They can sometimes offer hotel vouchers, but I imagine that any hotel within reach of the airport is fully booked. Any hotel near the NYC airports only really exist to house stranded passengers. Must be a good racket.

  • longacre

    In most cases they won't offer anything for weather delays.

  • pumpkin13

    Best. Comments. Ever.

  • schadenfreudian mensch

    Don't call me Shirley, but I would rather just take the train.

  • NannyState

    Shirley.

  • buttface

    If you had the opportunity to binge on Sbarro and Cinnabon for 4 days, you'd take it too.

  • grizzzly

    Call me crazy but Delta should take note of this sort of thing and spring for some damn Hanes for these people

  • sidenote

    Call me crazy, but I think after three days I would spring for some new underwear.

  • nicemarmot

    Call me crazy, but I think after four days I would rent a car and drive my ass to Florida.

  • EastRiver

    She's Least Likely to win the Amazing Race.

  • Splicer

    You'd think that would occur to her. Or a bus.

blog comments powered by Disqus

send a tip

tips@gothamist.com