Held on the holidays

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Beginning December 21, a fierce blizzard that produced three and a half feet of snow forced the cancellation of thousands of flights and Christmas plans for passengers. In an interview on Friday, December 22, Frontier Airlines spokesman Joe Hodas said the airline had already bumped 65,000 passengers and that it was already 90 percent booked for the holidays. Frontier, along with United Airlines, has a major hub at Denver and stands to be hit the hardest by the storm. As bad as the situation was in Denver — and I'm sure it brought back memories of other holiday travel disappointments — comparing it to flight delay incidents this Christmas in other parts of the world makes it seem a little less horrible. In Brazil, the Air Force had to step in on December 22 after angry travelers stormed the runways and demanded to be put on planes. The immediate cause of delays was overbooking. But Brazil's travel troubles started in September, after a Gol Airlines flight collided with a private jet over the Amazon, killing 154 passengers. Air traffic controllers, angered at receiving the blame for the accident, cut their work hours in half to bring them in line with labor laws. The shortage of controllers, on top of overbooking, a storm in Sao Paulo, and heavy holiday traffic, created chaos at airports across the country this Christmas. In response, aviation authorities have said they will audit TAM, Brazil's largest airline, to get some answers. And Brazil's president, Lula, criticized the carrier for overbooking. I'm sure there are plenty of American travelers who'd take some satisfaction in seeing a similar response here. Dream on.