The problems that had stranded hundreds of airline passengers and sent their bags astray appeared to be easing today, according to reports from officials at US Airways and Comair.
US Airways said it expected normal flight operations today, with the exception of 15 flights that were cancelled in Boston and Providence because of heavy snow. Officials for the airline said that the coverage by flight attendant crews is at normal levels today and that workers are in the process of clearing out the last of the hundreds of bags left in Philadelphia over the weekend because of staffing problems that disrupted schedules.
The financially troubled airline, which is in bankruptcy and has been negotiating new cost-cutting contracts with its unions, cancelled more than 400 flights since Thursday because of large numbers of flight attendants and baggage handlers calling in sick. The disruptions left holiday travelers stranded at airports and many without their luggage, some of them for days.
The company's chief executive, Bruce R. Lakefield, urged employees back to work in a memo yesterday, saying, "I have seen lots of excuses for why people took it upon themselves to call in sick, such as low morale, poor management, anger over pay cuts and frustration with labor negotiations. We all have our jobs to do."
Delta Airlines said its connection carrier, Comair, plans to operate close to 60 percent of its flight schedule today following the grounding of all its flights on Christmas because of problems with Comair's computer system. The regional airline plans to operate on a full schedule by Wednesday.
Comair, which is based in Cincinnati, announced yesterday that it hopes to have the computer system that manages crew assignments repaired shortly. The shutdown of the airline's 1,110 flights to 119 cities affected about 30,000 travelers.
Officials at Washington's Reagan National Airport said the chaos of the weekend had ebbed somewhat today.
By mid-afternoon, airport officials said about 250 unclaimed bags belonging to US Airways customers had stacked up and the line to deal with airline officials was a dozen deep. Officials also said that there were about 100 unclaimed bags outside the Delta counter.
Tara Hamilton, spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, said that about 100 people were stuck in line at the US Airways counter around 8 a.m. this morning.
"That was a sizable line for a typical Monday morning," she said, adding that it dissipated fairly quickly and the airport returned to normal by midday.
"It's just a busy Monday but nothing out of ordinary except for the bags you see when you walk out of the baggage claim area," Hamilton said.
