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Charlotte Amalie
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesSoutheast Ice Storm Impacts Flights to St. Thomas

Southeast Ice Storm Impacts Flights to St. Thomas

With flights from Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta under the weather because of yet another winter storm, some Delta flights to St. Thomas are canceled. Delta does not fly to St. Croix.

“There are two coming in but only one going out,” Delta’s St. Thomas manager, Per Petersen, said of Tuesday’s flights.

He said that while there are normally two Delta flights heading to Atlanta each day, the flight scheduled to depart from Cyril E. King Airport on St. Thomas at 5:50 p.m. is canceled.

On Wednesday, all Delta flights are canceled, Petersen said.

Atlanta had only light rain mid-afternoon on Tuesday but conditions are expected to worsen later Tuesday night and into Wednesday as what the National Weather Service named Winter Storm Pax hits.

Meteorologist Al Roker said on NBC News that anywhere from a quarter of an inch to an inch of ice is expected to hit from Texas to Virginia. Atlanta sits in the midst of that weather mess.

“This system could bring places to a standstill,” he said.

Forecasters expect the storm to next hit the Northeast starting Wednesday night through Thursday night, likely bringing travel disruptions to that area.

Petersen said some passengers are showing up for the canceled flight and added, “Delta is assisting them in rebooking.”

However, Delta won’t help with hotel and other expenses vacationers incur when flights are canceled because of weather, Petersen said.

According to the Delta website’s information on this latest winter storm, if a flight is canceled or significantly delayed, passengers are entitled to a refund. Even if a flight is not canceled, travelers may make a one-time change to a ticket without fee if they are scheduled to travel to, from or through Atlanta on Delta, Delta Connection or Delta-coded flights during the specified listed time periods. This applies to flights scheduled for Tuesday through Thursday. The ticket must be reissued on or before Monday for travel starting no later than Monday.

As for those passengers who can’t leave St. Thomas and St. John as planned, the Tourism Department is ready to assist if needed, spokesman Luana Wheatley said.

Lisa Hamilton, president of the V.I. Hotel Association, said she hadn’t had any reports from her members about the situation.

On St. John, which has somewhere around 850 vacation villas, tourists who can’t fly out when their villa stay ends need to find hotel accommodations if the villa will be occupied, Kay Raimondi of Windspree Vacation Homes said.

Raimondi said that regarding this latest weather disruption, guests who were supposed to arrive Wednesday will fly in instead Thursday. However, they will lose a day’s accommodations.

Richard Doumeng, manager at Bolongo Bay Beach Resort on St. Thomas, said since winter began, he had a few people who couldn’t fly in because of bad weather but there were a few people who couldn’t leave so it balanced out.

“It’s not been that crazy,” he said.

Travel plans across the country were disrupted several times as winter storms hit from coast to coast.

Doumeng said that the bad winter weather on the mainland is good for business in the Virgin Islands as long as flights are not disrupted.

“Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow, but let the airport stay open,” Doumeng said.

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