North America, Europe transport recover from heavy snow

WHILE western Europe recovers from heavy Christmas snows, flights are still being cancelled to and from the eastern US as record accumulation beats century-old snowfall records.

In Europe, fault finder have targeted airports, which found themselves unable to clear snow that seldom falls in these quantities with both British and continental aviation interests howling for punitive measures.

The US east coast faced at least another day of transport disruption after snowstorms blanketed New York and Boston, closing airports and halting trains with three-foot drifts and blinding winds, reported Bloomberg.

More than 6,000 flights were cancelled in the region over the holiday weekend as airports closed. JFK was to reopen, while LaGuardia and Newark Liberty airports openings were undetermined, according to the Federal Aviation Administration's website.

Rail services had resumed between New York and Boston, but the Long Island Rail Road remained closed. Electricity provider Consolidated Edison said 6,167 customers in New York and 1,811 in Westchester County were without power.

Further north in Boston, the transport sector braced itself for another 18 inches, and central Massachusetts expected a snowfall of 22 inches.

US carriers have cancelled at least 3,201 flights a day as they waited for airports to reopen in the northeast. Airlines in some cases grounded flights ahead of the storm to keep planes getting snowed-in at their destinations. Delta cut 875 flights, Continental Airlines, 899 flights; United, grounded 77; Southwest, 188 flights; US Airways, 550; American Airlines, 411 and JetBlue cut 300.

European fault finders targeted privatised airport operator BAA (formerly, the British Airports Authority), which runs London Heathrow with British Transport Secretary Philip Hammod demanding punitive measures for not having snow clearance equipment, reports allheadlinenews.com.

Mr Hammod said he was seeking more powers for air regulators because, under present rules, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) could not punish the operators of Britain's busiest airport beyond fines. He proposed an economic sanction for service failure.

In response, BAA chief executive Collin Matthews said he would forego his usual bonus this year so the money could be spent to snow clearing equipment.

BAA chairman Nigel Rudd said he was committed to act on the recommendations of an inquiry and threatened to resign if Madrid-based Ferrovial, which owners 56 per cent of BAA, failed to back him in this.

The blame game spread to the continent where the Brussels-based Association of European Airlines (AEA) told the European Union to establish "clear responsibilities for all concerned" in bad weather, reported theParliament.com.

"We are not blaming the weather, but people who fail to anticipate cold weather in winter; that is a problem airlines cannot fix," said AEA secretary general Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus.

"No-one doubts that a severe blizzard can close an airport, nor that it takes time for a heavy snowfall to be cleared from runways and aircraft to be de-iced. But it does appear that a number of major airports have been taken by surprise, have reacted slowly or have lacked the equipment needed to cope," said Mr Schulte-Strathaus.
(Source:www.schednet.com)