Flights slowly resume, but finding seats is tricky

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Airlines are starting to put planes in the skies on the East Coast, but passengers from 15,773 canceled flights over the last few days may have trouble finding a seat on one of them.

FLIGHT TRACKER: JIA Arrival & Departure Times

Eleven airports on the East Coast from Norfolk to Boston canceled at least 90% of their flights Monday because of megastorm Sandy, according to FlightStats.com, which tracks flight information. But airlines were ready to resume flights late Tuesday and Wednesday, although New York's major airports aren't among them yet.

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Airlines have begun moving planes into many of them as they slowly resume service. But even as they do, airlines will fly passengers with existing reservations before finding space for canceled travelers. Aviation and travel analysts warn it could take a week for flights to get back to normal.

"I think it's going to be worse than we even imagined yesterday because of the closures," says George Hobica, founder of price-comparison site Airfarewatchdog.com, whose own flight from New York to Los Angeles was canceled and who was waiting for a Thursday flight. "It may be a while."

Andrea Huguely, a spokeswoman for American Airlines, says a lot of the timing depends on when airports reopen and how full the planes are.

"It may take several days once we are able to reopen for everything to return to normal," Huguely says. "That can be frustrating to a customer, but our goal is to get our customers to where they need to go as quickly and as safely as possible."

The number of flight cancellations, with more expected Wednesday, has already rivaled those from Hurricane Irene in August 2011, but has not quite reached the "Snowmageddon" storm of February 2011, according to the FlightAware flight-tracking service.

Irene canceled about 15,000 flights, and Snowmageddon canceled 24,000 flights, according to FlightAware. Cancellations surrounding the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, 2001, when the airspace was shut down, were estimated at 100,000 flights.

"It's hard to say how long it will take for the passenger in your scenario to travel," says Mark Duell, vice president for operations at FlightAware. "If your flight was cancelled Saturday and you re-booked for Tuesday, it may be canceled again and the passenger would have to reschedule again or (get a)refund."

Re-booking a flight will be handled in the order that passengers contact customer service for an airline, with an eye toward traveling as soon as possible, next week for flexible business meetings or canceling for a refund, Duell says.

Airlines suggest trying to change tickets online, because call volumes are high. As passengers search for reservations, planes are flying the fullest on record, averaging nearly 87% of seats filled on every flight, according to the Transportation Department.

Hobica, of Airfarewatchdog.com, says airlines tend to favor frequent fliers, but will also assist passengers facing a hardship. Hobica says many travelers may simply take a refund, but the question will be how many people still must travel for business or other obligations.

"The good news is that a lot of people just aren't going to fly," Hobica says. "If you can prove some kind of hardship, a sick relative or a disaster - they're going to give you priority on a case-by-case basis."

Among the airlines' plans:

• JetBlue, which canceled 1,200 flights since Sunday, expects partial operations in Washington and Boston later Tuesday. But the resumption of service isn't guaranteed in the New York area on Wednesday because it wasn't clear when LaGuardia, JFK and Newark airports would reopen.

"We will have some flights for customers today, but we will prioritize getting aircraft and crew in position for resumption of schedule in those areas tomorrow," says spokeswoman Allison Steinberg. "The availability of public transportation will also play into the New York plan, too, so it remains very, very fluid."

• United, which canceled 4,700 flights since Sunday, or about one in five, expects to resume inbound flights into Washington Dulles late Tuesday, and into New York airports Wednesday afternoon. United also expects to resume service Tuesday afternoon to Cleveland and Chicago after suspending for wind.

• Delta, which canceled 2,900 flights from Sunday through Wednesday, is resuming operations at Washington airports and Boston on Tuesday, but won't resume at the three New York airports on Tuesday.

• US Airways canceled all flights Tuesday from Washington to Boston, and trans-Atlantic flights heading to Philadelphia will remain in Europe until Wednesday.

"Our goal now is to resume operations at all locations on Wednesday morning," says spokesman Todd Lehmacher. "Obviously that will depend on the weather and assessing any damage that this storm may cause."

• American, which canceled 1,687 flights from Sunday through Wednesday, hopes to be operating by late Tuesday at airports including Boston, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Chicago, and by mid-Wednesday at airports from Washington to New York.

"We're hopeful that operations will resume in most cities on Wednesday, but it's possible that the aftermath of the storm may force some additional delays and cancellations," says Matt Miller, an American spokesman.

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