Volcanic ash cloud chokes U.S. travel plans

By Michael Tarm • ASSOCIATED PRESS • April 16, 2010 CHICAGO — A volcanic ash cloud that shut down airports and tied up air traffic across Europe could turn into a long, costly headache for businesses, airlines and tourists in the United States. The ash spewed by an eruption in Iceland forced airlines to cancel flights and redirect planes around the ash. Those diversions caused jetliners to burn more fuel and created delays in the air-cargo business that could quickly run into tens of millions of dollars. The slowdown could affect everything from package shipments to business meetings and long-planned vacations. "The costs could be extraordinary," said Jeffrey Price, an aviation professor at Metropolitan State College of Denver. Many in the travel industry on Thursday weren't asking if they would be affected — but how badly. "This is the ultimate act of God," said Chicago-based transportation expert Joseph Schwieterman. "It's hard to imagine a weather scenario that would disrupt the entire Atlantic flight system like this." Anxious clients called Boston-based Garber Travel, one of New England's biggest travel agencies, asking how they might rearrange flights. But for some travelers bound for Europe, it was too late. The flight cancellations jeopardized a $6,000 trip planned for more than six months by Robert and Barbara Breault of Coventry, R.I. Barbara, an avid gardener, had scheduled a vacation that coincided with tulip bloomings in the Netherlands. But their outbound flight Thursday night from Boston's Logan Airport to London Heathrow was marked "See agent." "It's not supposed to do this," Barbara said with a laugh. "I had already planned the whole thing." She had paid not only for the airline tickets, but supplemental charges for window seats and for a private guide, as well as a cruise through Holland's famed canals dubbed the "Tulip Festival Cruise." Flights to U.K. grounded On an average day, U.S. airlines operate about 340 flights to and from Europe, according to the Air Transport Association. On Thursday, American carriers canceled about 165 of those flights because of the ash, and the ATA expected at least as many to be canceled today. An FAA spokeswoman said the cancellations affected England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, Finland, France, Belgium and Denmark. The FAA issued an order holding flights destined for the United Kingdom on the ground. Other flights to and from Europe were being diverted around British airspace, which has been closed until 3 a.m. CDT today. For one British man trying to make it back to London, the consequences were deeply emotional. "It was my grandmother's funeral tomorrow so I am going to miss that," said Gary Alderson, who was at an airport hotel. Elsewhere, flight cancellations undermined pending business deals. Mark Kiefer, a Boston-based aviation industry consultant, said he initially planned to send a proposal to a company north of Amsterdam by air courier to meet a Monday deadline. "They told us that they wouldn't take a package tomorrow, and they wouldn't guarantee you Monday," Kiefer said. Instead, he planned to e-mail the proposal to colleagues in The Hague, have them print it out and then drive about an hour to hand-deliver the document. Air cargo companies conceded they were scrambling to cope. FedEx, the world's second-largest package-delivery company, started rerouting flights bound for Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris. It also moved some packages by truck instead of air. Company spokesman Steve Barber could not specify what types of shipments were most affected. Although rare, flight problems caused by volcanic ash are not unheard of. The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state grounded hundreds of flights for days. Associated Press writers Samantha Bomkamp, David Koenig, Joan Lowy, Glen Johnson, Ray Henry, Adam Pemble and David Porter contributed to this report.