TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin An Air travel Update

As being associated with the local airport this has been sent to me by the Airport Director about even local flights as some might still be trying to come in from SXM and catch connections.


Et al:

URGENT

My sources advise me that our air traffic system may shutdown by Monday or Tuesday. Delta Air Lines has already announced a shutdown; United and American will probably follow. This is driven as much by the air route traffic control system as it is by the airlines.

Midway Chicago tower shut down for several hours yesterday because of a controller diagnosed as positive to the virus. New York Air Traffic Control Center suffered a similar shutdown today. Airlines, as you can imagine, will not fly without air traffic control. The airlines are already suffering huge losses because of the down-tic in ticket sales.

If you, or anyone you know, is relying on air travel in the immediate future, be prepared with a "Plan B" for getting home. Such alternatives might be: get home NOW, plan to be away for an extended period of time, or look for ground transportation to get home.

This is right out of the "9-ll playbook". You may recall that all flights were grounded at that time. Car rental companies ran out of rental cars. Some people could not get home for ten days to two weeks!

I do not mean to be a harbinger of doom and gloom; but shame on me if I do not let you know.

Dave Miller
Director of Aviation
St. Louis Regional Airport (ALN)



Wendell

Thanks Wendell. I had heard Midway had an issue.

REGIONAL AIRLINE FOR AA/DELTA SHUTTING DOWN

If/when AA and Delta begin service to SXM again, this will impact the regional airports and sadly, more will likely follow suit.