Atlanta Flights Canceled, Flyers Stranded

You would not have know that Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airports is the busiest airports in the world by walking through it today.

Most of the people in the airport were waiting in lines or talking on cell phones trying to rebook their flights.

The snow prompted Delta Air Lines and AirTran Holdings Inc. to scrub most flights to and from Atlanta, the world’s busiest airport, and led United Parcel Service Inc. to suspend pickups and deliveries in its hometown.

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed declared a state of emergency and urged people to avoid driving unless necessary. Hundreds of schools, government offices and businesses were closed, and thousands were without power.

The Atlanta airport, which remains open with its runways operational, has “almost no flight activity due to cancellations,” said John Kennedy, a spokesman. The airport handles about 88 million passengers a year.

Delta scrubbed 1,450 flights today, or about 25 percent of its regular schedule, with the “overwhelming bulk” into and out of Atlanta, said Anthony Black, a spokesman for the carrier. Delta and its regional partners account for about two-thirds of passengers at the airport, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

AirTran canceled at least 330 flights today, including all flights to and from Atlanta, its largest hub, spokesman Christopher White said in an e-mail message. The last time AirTran scrubbed all flights in a city was after the September 2001 terrorist attacks when the U.S. grounded all air traffic.

A handful of flights are hoping to leave Tuesday morning.  The freezing rain and snow are supposed to stop, but temps will barely bypass freezing this week, making travel difficult for the next few days.

Check out http://www.atlanta-airport.com/ for more detailed information.