19838: (Craig) NYT: American Airlines Delays Haiti Service (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Dan Craig <hoosier@att.net>

American Airlines Delays Haiti Service
March 4, 2004
By REUTERS
Filed at 5:53 p.m. ET

DALLAS (Reuters) - American Airlines said on Thursday it
will delay resuming flights to strife-torn Haiti until
March 9, after suspending service on Feb. 26 because of
civil unrest in the Caribbean country

American, a division of AMR Corp. (AMR.N), on Monday said
flights would resume March 5, but it pushed back that date,
saying it needs more time to work with its employees in
Haiti and prepare its terminal at the Port-au-Prince
airport.

A contingent of U.S. troops secured Haiti's main airport
several days ago.

"The security at the airport grounds is not the only part
of the equation," said Carlo Bertolini, a spokesman for
American, the world's largest carrier.

He added that while the airport may be secure, the carrier
still had concerns about its employees and passengers
getting safely to the airport.

American said it will resume service with three daily
flights to Port-au-Prince, two from Miami and one from New
York's Kennedy Airport, and a flight five days a week
between Port-au-Prince and Fort Lauderdale.

It said it removed a third daily flight on the Miami and
Port-au-Prince route from its schedule as of March 2, as it
had previously planned.

The government and foreign military forces gained a
tentative grip on chaotic Haiti on Thursday as U.S. and
French troops stepped up patrols and armed rebels who
helped oust the president prepared to leave the capital.

Banks reopened after two weeks of gunbattles, looting and
barricades forced President Jean-Bertrand Aristide into
exile.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-airlines-amr-haiti.html?ex=1079446103&ei=1&en=b7dde03ffdeae4dc
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company