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Severe Weather Caused Extensive
Delays at Philadelphia International Airport on Thursday
FAA weather advisory resulted in 150 flight cancellations
Philadelphia - Severe
weather across the Midwest and Northeast caused many flights to incur extensive
delays at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) yesterday (Thursday).
At 10:00 AM (EST), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an
advisory that a developing line of thunderstorms in the Midwest was impacting
air traffic in the Midwest and Northeast. The FAA's Severe Weather Avoidance
Program (SWAP) was implemented at 10:39 AM for all New York area airports,
increasing delays at PHL by reducing available flight routes into and out of
Philadelphia. The SWAP Program was extended to Philadelphia at 11:50 AM,
shutting down both inbound and outbound flight operations to and from the west.
At no time did airfield maintenance
activity at PHL create or exacerbate these weather-related delays.
The Airport took immediate steps to contact all of
its tenant airlines, offering gates and aircraft parking positions, and the use
of its Passenger Transport Vehicles (PTVs) in order to help bring weary
passengers that were stuck on uncomfortably hot airplanes back into the
terminal building. These offers of assistance were declined by the airlines.
Approximately 800 passengers whose flights were delayed or cancelled
were stranded overnight in the terminals. Blankets, pillows, water and snacks
were distributed by the Airport's Hospitality Program.
The FAA lifted
its airfield restrictions at 9:28 PM and reported that more than 150 flights
had been cancelled as a result of the severe weather.
The Philadelphia Airport System is owned and operated by the City of
Philadelphia and is composed of Philadelphia International Airport and
Northeast Philadelphia Airport. The Airport System is a self-sustaining entity
that operates without the use of local tax dollars. It is one of the largest
economic engines in Pennsylvania, generating an estimated $14 billion in
spending to the regional economy and employing a workforce of nearly
34,000.
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