(NYT) Carriers Are Stricken by Cancellations and Lack of Fuel

[Synnical]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/31/business/31air.html

By MICHELINE MAYNARD
Published: August 31, 2005

The airline industry felt the brunt of Hurricane Katrina yesterday, with some airports running low on jet fuel and carriers canceling hundreds of flights. Meanwhile, Wall Street feared that the financial problems of the sickest airlines could grow worse.

The industry's trade group, the Air Transport Association, said the nation's supply of jet fuel had been cut 13 percent because of damage to refineries on the Gulf Coast.

The association arranged for supplies of jet fuel to be shipped by air tanker to airports in Charlotte, N.C., and Fort Myers and West Palm Beach in Florida, where supplies had dwindled, the group's chief economist, John Heimlich, said yesterday.

The group also planned to send jet fuel by tanker truck as well as plane to other airports, Mr. Heimlich said. Of particular concern are supplies at two big airports -Hartsfield, serving Atlanta, and Dulles, serving Washington. Both airports generally rely on supplies from refineries in Louisiana and in Memphis.

More at link

[htuttle]

1. I think I hear our infrastructure creaking and groaning

Did I just hear a rivet pop somewhere? Wonder if this thing is going to come down?

[hunter]

6. Titanic, meet iceberg...

You can call her Katrina.

The captain is in his stateroom eating cake.

[Tesha]

15. This is the excuse they've been waiting for to come clean...

This is the excuse they've been waiting for to come clean with the
corrected news that we already all knew: Our economy is in shambles
and has been so since the election of the Boy King.

But now they can blame it all on Hurricane Katrina.

Tesha

[buddysmellgood]

2. Anyone else feel vulnerable?

[Donailin]

5. yeah.

I feel very anxious. It's been going on for about five years now.

[Mari333]

16. the Perfect storm

no one will be able to file bankruptcy after October
winter heating costs
gas prices
This country will suffer like its never suffered.

[knowbody0]

3. time to make friends with Hugo Chavez

[wli]

4. no doubt, we'll be fleeing as refugees to Venezuela soon enough n/t

[Synnical]

7. As I stated to my mother a few weeks ago

I'd rather live under a socialist dictator than a capitalistic dictator.

[rman]

11. Chavez may be socialist, but he's no dictator

[donheld]

9. Can we make him our president?

n/t

[Endangered Specie]

8. I see the shit has been carefully aimed and the fan is powering up

[daleo]

10. The airlines wouldn't help in the New Orleans evacuation

So, I guess this is a little karma. Apparently, they wouldn't send scheduled flights to New Orleans on the weekend, since nobody was keen to go there at the time, and they didn't want mostly empty planes flying in. So, they canceled flights and stranded people in New Orleans who had been scheduled to fly out.

[saigon68]

12. That's best for the CORPORATE STOCKHOLDERS

A business decision that is in the best interest of the investors in the corporate stock.

Must make aa profit you know.

AS IN

"Garcon, pass the Champaign", belched the corporate CEO.

[fasttense]

14. Are you kidding me?

The airlines wouldn't help move evacuees?? What kind of useless plan did we have in place??? Where are the plans to help restore things to normal??? Why is brush sitting on his hands??? This is the biggest messed up disaster we have ever had in this country.

Money to improve the levees was taken from the Corps of Engineers and given to fight the war in Iraq. Troops and equipment was moved out of LA and MS and used in Iraq. Air Lines decide not to help in the evacuation and corporate media focuses on looting. And the idiot president sits on his hands and no one thought to protect a quarter of the US oil production. I've never seen our country handel such a disaster so poorly.

[DoYouEverWonder]

13. So where's George

Excuse me, Mr. President? We have an emergency on our hands. Do you think you can put the ax down for a minute and pay attention?