(NECN: Peter Howe, Boston) - With another airport-snarling storm charging up the Eastern Seaboard, passengers leaving Logan International Airport Wednesday were grateful to be getting out a day early.
"It sounds like it's going to be a rough morning, and it's been a rough winter -- too much footage of folks stranded at the airport for days," said Michelle White of Andover, who was leaving from the Logan Express terminal in Woburn for a business trip to Wyoming and Colorado.
Logan Wednesday was already seeing cancellations of flights to and from iced-in Atlanta and Charlotte. Massachusetts Port Authority aviation director Ed Freni said they were bracing for the storm to begin fouling operations at airports around Washington, D.C.
Depending on how many jets needed for flights out of Boston Thursday get stuck to the South, Freni said airport officials were bracing for multiple days of disruptions as people trying to get re-booked from cancelled flights can't find seats for days because other flights are full for the start of the Massachusetts public school vacation week.
"Unfortunately, we're going into that type of a busy period where we see 90 to 100 percent load factors, so if flights are cancelled, it becomes an issue as airlines try to rebook people because available seats are already full," Freni said. But, he added, "We don't think we'll see any problem if all the airlines are able to bring their planes in tomorrow to try to maintain the integrity of the schedule."
However, Massport was facing a whole other challenge: A severe parking crunch at the airport with central and economy parking nearly entirely full, thanks largely to people leaving early for the school vacation week. Massport is offering special parking deals at its Logan Express park-shuttle-and-fly lots in Peabody, Woburn, Framingham, and Braintree that can save families $100 to $150 a week off the cost of parking at Logan.
With videographer Scott Wholley
