A few days after starting runway repairs at the Cyril E. King airport, airline operations were halted because of the project, according to the Virgin Islands daily news.
Last Sunday, March 21, two American Airlines flights were delayed more than eight hours, due to the repairs, the newspaper reported. (Read the full story here.)
Remember, when Public Works announced the project, it was promised all work would be done at night and no disruptions would occur.
Fail!
The problem is that the repairs have taken some of the old runway out of service. An AA pilot was reluctant to make a landing on the shortened asphalt. Two other flights also had to make adjustments before takeoff; lightening their loads by reducing fuel or bumping passengers.
You can check out STT operations at this link at FlightStats.com, a site that tells you arrivals and departures for all the flights at an airport.
Up, up and away!
We were at the airport for 8-1/2 hours! I will say the American Airlines representatives made informative announcements regarding the delay. The cafe and bar also stayed open so we could bide our time spending yet more money. Crappy way to end a wonderful vacation but travel day is always the worst part of a trip.
I was also at the airport on March 21st. We were flying Delta,first we were told our flight was delayed. Then we found out that it was because of the airstrip being too short we would have to stop in San Juan for additional fuel. We were lucky got out 2 hours late. We were able to get on our cells and change our flight because we were going miss our connecting flight in Atlanta. We were lucky. But what a mess for the American passengers. Hope they get this resolved soon.
Ahh, sweet government efficiency. With our wonderful new government health care system wait until you are halfway through your cancer surgery and the uniionized medical “professionals” running our healthcare system decide they need to strike for more benfits/money/union bull. It’s so wonderful that uncle BO has turned our country into a socalist/union welfare state. God help us all.
Ahh, Jim. Typical of a right wing supporter. Off message (what has your ranting have to do with runway repairs). The problem is not a socalist state it is your political outlook. Stick to the facts and topic.
Ahh Paul, Obama behind smacker, evidently reading is not your strength either. I’m pretty sure Public Works falls under the jurisdiction of Government. When they say there will be no disruptions and there are whose fault is that? I don’t think it is too much of a reach to draw a parallel between government bureaucracy and inefficiency. If that bothers your left wing leanings than get used to it.
Jim please read what you write. One, I agree the the VI Public Works or whatever agency is doing the runway work is a government dept. but this is the way of life in the VI. You should know this if you are a frequent visitor or property owner. Two, your rant has nothing to do with the delay in runway repairs. Absolutely Nothing. Sounds like more of a Tea Party statement. Maybe the delays are caused by the private contractor (read capitalist)? Stop blaming everything on the government and Obama in particular and come up with positive solution oriented ideas to solve the problems at hand.