<p>D will be connecting through Philadelphia International 2/11 about 1:00-2:00 p.m. . I see all the snow on the TV and can’t help but wonder what that connection will be like. I have looked at the weather sites and don’t see any projected delays, but then watch the news and see Philadelphia folks complaining about mountains of snow still on the ground from the previous event. Her final stop is a small airport in Connecticut and that makes me even more nervous about the connection. (Not many flights in and out.) </p>
<p>I have my fingers crossed. Any local insight?</p>
<p>Curm, I live in the western suburbs of Philly and we are being smothered in snow. My mailbox is almost covered. Two feet over the weekend and another pile last night expected to get up to an additional 20+ inches by the end of today. Only emergency vehicles/travel are allowed on some area major roads. I do expect that things will be better tomorrow, though.</p>
<p>They’ll have the runways open full blast in Philly by tomorrow afternoon, although I would still expect there to be some flight delays as these events now tend to ripple through the system for a day or two as airlines try to move their planes and crews back into place. Getting to the airport from anywhere in Philly may be tough. Connecticut is getting snow this afternoon, but New England really hasn’t gotten that much snow from these recent events. That shouldn’t be a problem.</p>
<p>I couldn’t get the philly airport site to load right now (overloaded), but here’s an alternative where you can look at the arrivals and departures boards. A handful of flights are departing from Philly this afternoon, but essentally all arrivals are cancelled.</p>
<p>Ripple effect could be really bad, couldn’t it? Thanks y’all. I will be looking at alternatives but it seems every connecting flight to her final destination goes through Philadelphia.</p>
<p>They’ve cancelled everything into and out of Hartford and Providence today, but not tomorrow morning. They have cancelled tomorrow morning for LaGuardia and Islip.</p>
<p>I would not be overly optimistic, curm. As JEM says, we are getting buried. My guess (which could be wrong!) is it will be cancelled or delayed - even after all the snow is over we expect high winds to continue both tonight and tomorrow. They just closed 76 (the Schuykill Expressway), 476 and 676 - that never happens. The good news is that we are pretty good at digging out quickly around here.</p>
<p>I’ve been a travel agent in the snow belt midwest since 1981…</p>
<p>Provided the snow ends tonight…that ripple effect CAN be over by tomorrow, but it might not. </p>
<p>An east coast snow CAN delay a plane out of … Ft. Lauderdale, for example. Each ship has a particular route that they take. So if the ship for the Ft. Lauderdale flight was coming out of Philly…it might end up cancelled. The department that re-routes planes is a CRAZY place on days like this. </p>
<p>And, once this day is over, and they fly half the night to HOPEFULLY get each ship where it’s supposed to be for the night…that’s only half the battle. </p>
<p>Tomorrow morning…even if runways and skies are clear and the plane is there…you can assume there will still be delays due to required crew rest. </p>
<p>But…everything “works out in the end”. They even stick people on buses, trains, in vans when necessary, and when they can. </p>
<p>I think she’ll be fine, but probably late. But I’d feel the SAME way about my own daughter…even with my experience. Everyone - make sure your kid carries a credit card if traveling alone - airlines don’t have to “provide” food/lodging in this type of (“Act of God”) delay. Some can be kind and do so anyway, others not-so-much. Of course, sometimes you can’t FIND a room and sometimes you can’t really leave the airport because things are still working/in flux.</p>
<p>(By the way, you’d TYPICALLY never see delays projected for the NEXT day…not any accurate ones anyway…I often don’t get a flight delay notice until an hour or 1/2 hour before it’s due to take off…they just can’t project that far…that’s why I think it’s a ridiculous thing when I hear “Call your airline to check on your flight”…that does NOT help anything…you HAVE to be there anyway. If you don’t show and it ends up going on time…and I’ve had that happen, a LOT!..they’re not going to wait on you. But, this is an awfully big snow, so the fact they’re forcasting delays for tomorrow already is a pretty big deal. It also means they understand it’s a special situation and will work with you in reaccommodating where/when possible. Problem is that people from 10 flights are jockeying for a seat on the one plane that does finally take off tomorrow afternoon. It can be a mess. Good luck! Nice that we at least have cell phones today!</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, is stuck at Philly airport hotel for next day or so. She has been posting on other threads today, she might offer you some insider info Curm.</p>
<p>Southwest Airlines has been really good about forecasting major storm delays a day iin advance and allowing passengers to rebook immediately without penalty. This benefits the airline and the customer because it’s one less passenger sleeping in the terminal desperately trying to rebook at the last minute.</p>
<p>This was a godsend when the first storm hit right before Christmas. My daughter, who was booked on Southwest, saw the notice go up on the airline website a day before her flight. She was able to rebook online for a flight two days later (this was a major storm). It eased the strain on her, eased the strain on us, and eased the strain on Southwest. More airlines should do this. </p>
<p>I bet Curmudgeon’s daughter would rebook right now for Friday instead of Thursday, thus freeing up seats tomorrow for passengers who have spent the night in Philly airport.</p>
<p>I’m going to add that I just checked my computer. Feb 11 USair from Philly to: -a-t---- (fill in your city’s letters to see if that’s the correct one…it will fit if it is…like a crossword puzzle, eh?). The first 3 flights of the day are already cancelled. Your D may be the FIRST one to get home- because the next flight (in your given time range) is showing operational (SO FAR). Don’t bet your last dollar on that. But, they know what we all know…it takes today to finish the snow, tonight to get their “ships in a row”, and tomorrow morning to rest the crew. You might end up with one very lucky daughter. I hope so.</p>
<p>Yeah, sorry, I deleted my post when I noticed we’d gone onto page 2 and I missed seeing your city pair. </p>
<p>Well, darn, that’s two little airports. That doesn’t help. Can you pick her up somewhere else? She reroutes herself NOW through another city and you pick her up?</p>
<p>Philly-New Haven: First flight tomorrow is 10am and it’s showing cancelled. The 2pm is still a “go” (again…for NOW…that doesn’t necessarily mean much this early).</p>
<p>Also - this looks good! If she were to get in, but late…there are THREE more flights tomorrow afternoon. All are “go”. And they all have a moderate amount of seats left too (so far!).</p>