U.S. Carriers Cancel Tokyo Flights, Waive Fees After Earthquake
March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, U.S. President Barack Obama and Nouriel Roubini, founder of Roubini Global Economics, speak about the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Japan and unleashed a seven-meter-high tsunami that killed hundreds of people as it engulfed towns on the northern coast. This report also contains comments from Francisco Blanch, global head of commodities research at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch; Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates Inc., and Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. (Source: Bloomberg)
United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL), Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) and American Airlines canceled dozens of flights between the U.S. and Tokyo after Japan’s strongest earthquake on record clogged two major airports.
Cancellations at Narita International, Japan’s main overseas gateway, stranded almost 14,000 people before partial operations resumed with the rescheduling of nine departures. Tokyo’s Haneda airport, Asia’s second-busiest by passengers, also resumed flights.
Delta reported the most scrubbed flights among U.S. airlines on March 11, dropping 29 trips to and from Narita and Haneda, about half of the daily total. AMR Corp. (AMR)’s American canceled four U.S.-bound flights, United scrapped 10 flights and its Continental unit grounded one.
“Narita airport’s runway is not damaged,” United Continental CEO Jeff Smisek said in an interview in Houston. “The problem is the railway lines aren’t functioning so our employees and the passengers can’t get to the airport.”
United, Delta and American, the largest U.S. airlines by traffic, waived fees for rebooking Japan travel at least through March 14.
The 8.9-magnitude temblor shook buildings across Tokyo on March 11, unleashing a tsunami that killed hundreds as it engulfed towns on the northern coast. Hawaiian Airlines canceled 14 flights within Hawaii hours later as the state was put on a tsunami watch.
A Honolulu-bound flight from Haneda was delayed because of “ground transportation challenges” in Japan, according to Hawaiian Airlines, a unit of Hawaiian Holdings Inc. (HA)
‘Have to Happen’
Before American Airlines can resume normal operations in Japan, “there are some things that have to happen,” said Ed Martelle, a spokesman. “Narita has to re-open, we have to have the crews and we have to have the airplanes in place.
Air Canada canceled four flights to Japan, Angela Mah, a spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.
Craig Harvey, an executive with NVision Solutions Inc., an emergency management logistics company in Mississippi, was among passengers on a Delta flight held overnight at Haneda. They remained on the aircraft rather than joining crowds inside the terminal, he said.
“I could be agitated and upset, but then I’d just be all agitated and upset, and still in the airplane another five hours,” he said in a telephone interview. “We’ll get off this plane at some point. There’s a lot of people in a lot worse shape than us.”
Rebooking Waivers
United, based in Chicago, and Atlanta-based Delta both offered waivers to rebook flights to Japan scheduled through March 15, while American won’t charge fees for trips through March 14. Hawaiian Airlines, based in Honolulu, is offering waivers through March 18.
While flights began departing from Narita, no planes were to land there, Shohei Kagawa, a spokesman, said by telephone. The U.S. cancellations were among dozens of flights scrubbed by carriers around the world.
Japan Airlines Corp. and All Nippon Airways Co. grounded flights nationwide, affecting more than 60,000 travelers.
China Southern Airlines Co., the nation’s largest carrier, canceled four Tokyo flights for March 12 and halted ticket sales for services on March 13, it said in an e-mailed statement.
British Airways canceled its Narita and Haneda flights on March 11 and the return legs on March 12, Cathy West, a spokeswoman, said by phone. Air France-KLM Group diverted a flight to Osaka and delayed takeoff for another in Paris by four and half hours, it said by e-mail.
Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN)’s Jetstar budget unit diverted two Tokyo-bound flights to Guam and Malaysian Airline System Bhd. (MAS) sent one to Taipei.
“It is likely that flights to Japan may continue to be affected in the coming days,” Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. said in an e-mailed statement. The carrier advised passengers to check its website before traveling.
To contact the reporters on this story: Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas at maryc.s@bloomberg.net; Sonja Elmquist in New York at selmquist1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ed Dufner at edufner@bloomberg.net
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