Labor Day weekend travel: Hurricane Idalia impacts airports, plus busy roads, rails
Hurricane Idalia impacted travel across the Eastern Seaboard and beyond on Wednesday, including on the airfield at Tampa International Airport. Credit: Handout/Tampa International Airport
Ahead of the final major holiday weekend of the summer, with many Long Islanders heading out of town on the roads and rails and through the skies, air travel in and out of New York has been impacted by Hurricane Idalia.
Idalia, which made landfall Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane in Florida's Big Bend region, unleashed massive flooding, widespread power outages and maximum sustained wind gusts of 125 mph.
As the storm follows a path through Georgia and into the Carolinas before moving off the coast on Thursday, it has wreaked havoc on Eastern Seaboard air travel, but could have minimal impact for weekend travel.
Hundreds of flights in and out of Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte and Savannah, Georgia, including many to and from New York, were canceled or delayed Wednesday — but the situation appeared to be better Thursday, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking company.
Many of the Sunshine State's major airports shut down operations during the storm, but most were expected to reopen, at least for arriving flights, by late Wednesday or early Thursday.
As of 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, there were 38 flight delays and 16 cancellations in and out of LaGuardia Airport; Kennedy Airport reported 101 delays and eight cancellations, and Long Island MacArthur Airport reported three flight delays and no cancellations, according to FlightAware. This was down significantly from Wednesday night, when there were nearly 200 flight delays and 52 cancellations for LaGuardia and nearly 300 delays and 40 cancellations for Kennedy.
While the storm has the potential to foil the travel plans of those looking to get out town early, it was unclear what the ramifications would be into the weekend.
Labor Day weekend is typically one of the busiest travel periods of the year, as many families seek a final mini-vacation before schools reopen next week, according to Rebecca Alesia, owner of the Oyster Bay-based agency Wanderology Luxury Travel.
"This summer was up about 35% over last summer on the whole, and Labor Day has followed that trend," said Alesia, who has been booking trips recently to Boston, Israel, Italy, California, Maine, Costa Rica, Spain, Bermuda and Croatia. "A lot of people that have kids that went to summer camp, they come home and see their friends, and then this last week, they go away as a family."
But even before Idalia, airline travel had been a challenge for passengers this summer, with 26.4% of flights delayed for nearly an hour at airports nationwide in June. That figure reached 27.7% last month — the highest number in at least five years, according to FlightAware. August has seen some improvements, with 22% of flights delayed for an average of 54 minutes, the data shows.
In 2022, the Department of Transportation received 77,656 airline consumer complaints, up 55% from the 49,991 complaints received in 2021, according to federal data released in April. Those numbers have continued to increase into early 2023, DOT data shows, with flight cancellations and delays serving as the No. 1 complaint.
Travel delays, however, have not detoured Americans from seeking one final trip before the weather begins to turn.
Domestic reservations for air travel, hotels, rental cars and cruises are up 4% over Labor Day weekend 2022 — with Orlando and Las Vegas the travel hot spots — and international bookings are up 44%, with Europe and Canada among the favorite destinations, according to AAA.
The Port Authority anticipates more than 2.3 million passengers will travel through Kennedy, Newark Liberty, LaGuardia and New York Stewart International airports from Thursday through Tuesday — an increase of 3% compared to the same holiday period in 2019.
And as many as 4.2 million vehicles are expected to cross the Port Authority’s bridges and tunnels during that same period, about the same as the Labor Day period in 2019, state officials said, adding that nonemergency repair projects will be suspended at Port Authority crossings Friday through Tuesday.
Traveling by vehicle won't come cheap, with prices at the pump on Long Island reaching $3.83 per gallon Wednesday, up 7 cents from a month ago but one cent cheaper than one year ago, according to AAA gas data. The national average for a gallon of gas is $3.82, while the statewide average is $3.90, AAA said.
For those traveling by rail, the MTA announced that the Long Island Rail Road will operate on a weekend/holiday schedule on Monday, with Montauk branch trains running on a Sunday schedule.
Meanwhile, several Jamaica-bound trains from Montauk and Southampton, which usually run Sundays, will run instead on Monday.
Alesia, the travel agent, said there is still some pent-up travel demand from the years where fewer people traveled because of COVID.
"I believe that we're seeing the end of that level of demand," she said. "I think this is kind of like the last gasp of it. This summer, especially in June and July, I had to bring in temporary help. The volume was insane. But now, I think we're seeing what is going to be the new normal."
Ahead of the final major holiday weekend of the summer, with many Long Islanders heading out of town on the roads and rails and through the skies, air travel in and out of New York has been impacted by Hurricane Idalia.
Idalia, which made landfall Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane in Florida's Big Bend region, unleashed massive flooding, widespread power outages and maximum sustained wind gusts of 125 mph.
As the storm follows a path through Georgia and into the Carolinas before moving off the coast on Thursday, it has wreaked havoc on Eastern Seaboard air travel, but could have minimal impact for weekend travel.
Hundreds of flights in and out of Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte and Savannah, Georgia, including many to and from New York, were canceled or delayed Wednesday — but the situation appeared to be better Thursday, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking company.
WHAT TO KNOW
- Many Long Islanders hoping to get an early start on the Labor Day weekend were slowed on Wednesday by Hurricane Idalia.
- Idalia made landfall Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane in Florida's Big Bend region, later wreaking havoc on Eastern Seaboard air travel.
Hundreds of flights in and out of Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte and Savannah, Georgia, including many to and from New York, were canceled or delayed Wednesday.
Many of the Sunshine State's major airports shut down operations during the storm, but most were expected to reopen, at least for arriving flights, by late Wednesday or early Thursday.
As of 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, there were 38 flight delays and 16 cancellations in and out of LaGuardia Airport; Kennedy Airport reported 101 delays and eight cancellations, and Long Island MacArthur Airport reported three flight delays and no cancellations, according to FlightAware. This was down significantly from Wednesday night, when there were nearly 200 flight delays and 52 cancellations for LaGuardia and nearly 300 delays and 40 cancellations for Kennedy.
While the storm has the potential to foil the travel plans of those looking to get out town early, it was unclear what the ramifications would be into the weekend.
Labor Day weekend is typically one of the busiest travel periods of the year, as many families seek a final mini-vacation before schools reopen next week, according to Rebecca Alesia, owner of the Oyster Bay-based agency Wanderology Luxury Travel.
"This summer was up about 35% over last summer on the whole, and Labor Day has followed that trend," said Alesia, who has been booking trips recently to Boston, Israel, Italy, California, Maine, Costa Rica, Spain, Bermuda and Croatia. "A lot of people that have kids that went to summer camp, they come home and see their friends, and then this last week, they go away as a family."
But even before Idalia, airline travel had been a challenge for passengers this summer, with 26.4% of flights delayed for nearly an hour at airports nationwide in June. That figure reached 27.7% last month — the highest number in at least five years, according to FlightAware. August has seen some improvements, with 22% of flights delayed for an average of 54 minutes, the data shows.
In 2022, the Department of Transportation received 77,656 airline consumer complaints, up 55% from the 49,991 complaints received in 2021, according to federal data released in April. Those numbers have continued to increase into early 2023, DOT data shows, with flight cancellations and delays serving as the No. 1 complaint.
Travel delays, however, have not detoured Americans from seeking one final trip before the weather begins to turn.
Domestic reservations for air travel, hotels, rental cars and cruises are up 4% over Labor Day weekend 2022 — with Orlando and Las Vegas the travel hot spots — and international bookings are up 44%, with Europe and Canada among the favorite destinations, according to AAA.
The Port Authority anticipates more than 2.3 million passengers will travel through Kennedy, Newark Liberty, LaGuardia and New York Stewart International airports from Thursday through Tuesday — an increase of 3% compared to the same holiday period in 2019.
And as many as 4.2 million vehicles are expected to cross the Port Authority’s bridges and tunnels during that same period, about the same as the Labor Day period in 2019, state officials said, adding that nonemergency repair projects will be suspended at Port Authority crossings Friday through Tuesday.
Traveling by vehicle won't come cheap, with prices at the pump on Long Island reaching $3.83 per gallon Wednesday, up 7 cents from a month ago but one cent cheaper than one year ago, according to AAA gas data. The national average for a gallon of gas is $3.82, while the statewide average is $3.90, AAA said.
For those traveling by rail, the MTA announced that the Long Island Rail Road will operate on a weekend/holiday schedule on Monday, with Montauk branch trains running on a Sunday schedule.
Meanwhile, several Jamaica-bound trains from Montauk and Southampton, which usually run Sundays, will run instead on Monday.
Alesia, the travel agent, said there is still some pent-up travel demand from the years where fewer people traveled because of COVID.
"I believe that we're seeing the end of that level of demand," she said. "I think this is kind of like the last gasp of it. This summer, especially in June and July, I had to bring in temporary help. The volume was insane. But now, I think we're seeing what is going to be the new normal."
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
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