A severe winter weather
system—with heavy snow, high winds and bitter cold—disrupted
operations for the industry at many airports over the weekend. US Airways
and its Express affiliates canceled approximately 1,800 flights (from
Friday through Monday) and Philadelphia International Airport was closed
for the first time in several years. US Airways continues to work to
restore normal operations. Employees at a number of stations, including
those most significantly impacted by the storm such as Washington,
Philadelphia, LaGuardia and Boston, have been working around-the-clock to
help get flights out on time and have bags delivered to hotels and
residences. As might be expected, some employees were unable to dig out from snow-
filled driveways or navigate treacherous road conditions, further
complicating the challenge. US Airways expects to resume its full schedule
of flights by tomorrow. “Our appreciation is extended to all those
employees who went out of their way to make it to work, despite hazardous
road conditions and bitter cold temperatures. Their extra efforts
mitigated the inconveniences this storm caused our customers,” said
Christopher Chiames, US Airways senior vice president of Corporate
Affairs. “We continue to work to get operations back on track, but the
extreme cold and icy conditions require that we take extra precautions to
ensure the safety of our employees and our customers. Customers have been
patient and recognize the weather has created this difficult operational
challenge, and that cooperation has also helped to ease the situation.”
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