Although New York escaped the full force of Hurricane Irene, Caribbean Airlines (CAL) is yet to resume normal flight services. A CAL spokesperson explained that the resumption of full service in and out of the John F Kennedy Airport hinges on how quickly the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) restarts operations so that employees could get to work. The New York Times reported that subway tracks remained flooded and fallen trees and branches had rendered some rail routes impassable. For now, CAL maintains there are some flight cancellations for today.
"The airline has a travel policy for Irene - how passengers will be accommodated and their allowances. "Everything is on our Web site...CAL is updating its Facebook page and the customer service is trying to contact as many passengers as possible." The company will issue a travel advisory as soon as New York's mass transit system opens up. On Sunday, the Category One hurricane which hit North Carolina on Saturday evening was downgraded to a tropical storm after it made landfall at New York's Coney Island.
The hurricane has left 14 dead, left millions of people along the United States East Coast without power, with estimated damage of $7 billion to $13 billion. Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Surujrattan Rambachan expects that flights will be regularised by the end of today. He observed that with 14 flights cancelled, there was displacement of several people but that was an issue for the airlines to manage. Rambachan said he was grateful that the High Commission's 20-member staff in Washington were all safe.
