Thousands of airline passengers were stranded across the country on Christmas, and many others arrived without suitcases full of gifts as two airlines, USAirways and Comair, struggled with computer and staffing problems.
Since Christmas Day is one of the lightest air travel days of the year, the snarling of baggage and cancellation of hundreds of flights yesterday were "extraordinary," Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Greg Martin said.
He said the problems at USAirways and Comair "reside with the airlines' own operations" and did not result from snowstorms across the Midwest. "It is extraordinary in that you have two situations that do not involve weather, nor are due to any incident involving the airspace system, such as malfunctioning radar," Martin said.
"Both situations are resulting in terrific customer inconvenience," he added.
One scene of particular confusion was USAirways' hub in Philadelphia International Airport. Unclaimed suitcases piled up until the airline sent five aircraft full of luggage, and without any passengers, to its baggage-handling center in Charlotte for sorting.
Disputing Martin's assertion, USAirways spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said bad weather was part of the problem.
"Severe weather on Thursday created the initial backlog, which was compounded by an unusual number of sick calls by our employees," she said. "We'll continue to work through the night to get back on track."
Largely because of the number of flight attendants and baggage handlers who called in sick, USAirways canceled 176 flights on Friday and 143 on Christmas Day, Kudwa said.
"Philadelphia is really where the backlog is centered. It's had ripple effects throughout the system, but Philadelphia is the primary problem," she said.
USAirways unions said they had not called a job action. The airline, which has sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in two years, is trying to reduce labor costs. On Thursday, its reservations and gate agents accepted a 13 percent pay cut. It has yet to reach new contracts with its flight attendants and the International Association of Machinists, which represents baggage handlers and mechanics.
