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Quiet Scene At Philadelphia International Airport After Storm Grounds Most Flights

By Mike DeNardo

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- With most flights cancelled Tuesday because of the blizzard forecast, Philadelphia International Airport was like a ghost town.

Eleven-hundred flights take off and land at the airport on a typical day. But Tuesday was not a typical day. Only a handful of flights were operating. Carie from Reading was getting on one of them, a Delta flight to Atlanta. She said it's an unusual sight to see the airport corridors so empty.

"It's eerie. It definitely is eerie," she said. "But I'm fortunate that my flight is still taking off and that I got here safely."

John Johnson of Center City was also one of the lucky few flying Tuesday.

"I think I saw three other flights that were getting out," he said. "So I'm heading to Salt Lake City to do some skiing with my buddies, and I'm very excited that I'm getting out."

airport cancelled flights
File Photo (credit: Mike DeNardo)

U.S. Airways and American Airlines cancelled most flights, but Delta was flying a nearly full schedule. That was welcome news to Barry Daley of Allentown.

"Yeah, I'm sort of surprised," he said. "I thought everything was going to be cancelled when I got here. But it's fine. It's great to know that I'm going to be leaving."

As the storm moved away, airlines were deciding when to resume service. United Airlines was operating only one evening arrival. Southwest Airlines was planning to resume normal operations by the end of the day.

The airlines were also working to rebook all of the passengers whose travel plans were grounded because of the snow.

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