Posted on December 23, 2009

Out of Control Crowd at JFK

Luke Funk, WNYW-TV (New York), December 23, 2009

Port Authority police officers had to help control an angry crowd at the Delta Air Lines terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Tuesday.

The PA says the police had to help maintain order and help customer service representatives that bore the brunt of the anger.

Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman told Fox 5 that it took less than an hour to get things completely under control.

The weekend snowstorm has left many people stranded in New York. Some people had flights rescheduled days later than their original itinerary, forcing them to miss cruises and other vacations.

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Newsday cited a source as saying the problems started when a flight to Haiti was overbooked.

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The episode occurred Tuesday morning when passengers–who had already been waiting two days to be put on a flight to Haiti, after their initial plane was grounded by the snowstorm–were told that the flight was overbooked and that they would have to wait another day. {snip}

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The airline said it had added a second flight to Haiti on Wednesday to accommodate the remaining passengers, who have been provided with meals and lodging since the initial flight was canceled Sunday, Ms. Elliott [Susan Elliott, a spokeswoman for Delta Air Lines] said. {snip}

{snip} While there were no other reported scenes of passenger uprisings, the frustration was widely shared.

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