CNN 2011-01-03

The snowstorm is over, but the firestorm continues over flights marooned¹ on the tarmac, delayed and canceled.

I would estimate probably about two hours from now…

Is that accurate?

Five freaking planes full today! Five freaking planes full today!

As incredible as it may seem to the tens of thousands of travelers who found themselves stranded², an airline industry group says this was not a malfunction³, this is winter weather. The system did not fail. Some aviation experts agree pointing out that dozens of airports up and down the East Coast were swamped with snow.

If we had better air traffic control, better management of some airports on the ground, yeah, it could be improved, but when you have a huge snowstorm like this, the way, we improved, is to stay home.

More than 10,000 flights have been canceled since last weekend. Experts believe, in some cases, airlines didn't want to gamble that the weather would put them at risk of being fined under the passenger bill of rights for keeping domestic flights waiting on the tarmac more than three hours.

The fines are extremely high, $27,500 per passenger delayed more than three hours. It means for a flight with 200 passengers, it may be over $5 million per airplane, per occurrence.

In this storm, it was mostly international flights that found themselves in limbo⁴, away from the terminal, unable to unload. The passenger bill of rights doesn't apply to them.

Ultimately, I blame the Department of Transportation for not including international flights in the rule. I think they got snookered by the International Air Transport Association lobbying for the international carriers and saying, oh, no, this will be too cumbersome⁵ for us. We can't possibly follow this rule. But unfortunately, that means that any international flight coming or going from the U.S. is not going to have any protections.

The Department of Transportation is considering modifying the rule to include international flights, though, critics contend a likely consequence is even more cancellations which could create even more inconvenience for passengers.

Now, the Department of Transportation is reviewing complaints and data on cancellations and delays to see if during the storms, there were any violations⁶ of regulation. No findings from them yet. Though, the airlines say by and large the system worked. Outside experts say one thing clearly did not, that is communications. They say better and more timely information could have minimized the passenger frustration⁷, if not passenger inconvenience. Suzanne, back to you.

And Jeanne, why is it taking so long for things to get back to normal?

Well, you know, the airlines have been adjusting supply and demands of most flights have been flying very close to capacity and you have the holiday season, the crescendo⁸ was coming, the heaviest travel days up coming, and you also have all of these passengers who are displaced because of canceled flights. Put it all together, and it is going to take some time to get everybody where they want to go.

1 marooned   

adj.被围困的；孤立无援的；无法脱身的

参考例句：

• During the storm we were marooned in a cabin miles from town. 在风暴中我们被围困在离城数英里的小屋内。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Five couples were marooned in their caravans when the River Avon broke its banks. 埃文河决堤的时候，有5对夫妇被困在了他们的房车里。 来自辞典例句

2 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

3 malfunction   

vi.发生功能故障，发生故障，显示机能失常

参考例句：

• There must have been a computer malfunction.一定是出了电脑故障。
• Results have been delayed owing to a malfunction in the computer.由于电脑发生故障，计算结果推迟了。

4 limbo   

n.地狱的边缘；监狱

参考例句：

• His life seemed stuck in limbo and he could not go forward and he could not go back.他的生活好像陷入了不知所措的境地，进退两难。
• I didn't know whether my family was alive or dead.I felt as if I was in limbo.我不知道家人是生是死，感觉自己茫然无措。

5 cumbersome   

adj.笨重的，不便携带的

参考例句：

• Although the machine looks cumbersome,it is actually easy to use.尽管这台机器看上去很笨重，操作起来却很容易。
• The furniture is too cumbersome to move.家具太笨，搬起来很不方便。

6 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

7 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

8 crescendo   

n.(音乐)渐强，高潮

参考例句：

• The gale reached its crescendo in the evening.狂风在晚上达到高潮。
• There was a crescendo of parliamentary and press criticism.来自议会和新闻界的批评越来越多。