Braving the Skies Again

At LaGuardia and Kennedy, travelers show pluck

By Michael J. Woodsand Tara Driscoll | STAFF WRITERS

September 16, 2001

Air travelers showed composure and grace under difficult circumstances at LaGuardia and Kennedy airports yesterday as passengers crossed their fingers that the plane they were scheduled to board actually would take off.

The two airports were cleared for operation shortly before noon Friday, and flights yesterday were arriving and departing in the longest span of uninterrupted service since Tuesday's attacks. LaGuardia was expecting about 268 arrivals and 230 departures yesterday; Kennedy anticipated 206 arrivals and 257 departures. Port Authority officials said that was about 50 percent to 55 percent of the normal load.

As people stood in snaking lines, the mood at LaGuardia was relatively serene, even for those whose stay in New York was much longer than anticipated.

Kim Horan, 29, has been here since Sept. 8. The Lewisville, Texas, resident came on a business trip and had scheduled a Tuesday evening departure. That morning, she was at the Marriott Marquis Hotel when she got the word of the attack.

Yesterday, while waiting to present her ticket to American Airlines agents for a flight due to depart for Dallas at 4:30 p.m., Horan said she wasn't fearful. "Not at all," she said. "I just want to get out of here."

Horan had arranged six different departures on American before this attempt, so she knew the drill. "I have a turkey sandwich because I'm going to be here a while," she said. "I've got more snacks just in case."

Wednesday was Horan's birthday, and she spent what would have been a joyful occasion by herself.

"I walked around Broadway," she said. "I've been impressed with everybody in the city."

As Horan stood patiently, Kim and Kearn Lacey picked up their baggage after their flight from Dallas touched down at LaGuardia.

They had son Matthew, 6 months, in tow. He is scheduled for colon surgery tomorrow at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park. The Laceys had been looking forward to seeing some sights, but no longer.

"I don't have the heart now," said Kim Lacey, 38.

She said she'll make certain her son knows every detail of this journey. "I'm keeping a journal for him," she said.

Most people at LaGuardia showed the same grace under pressure, but as city police officers, U.S. marshals, airport security and U.S. Border Patrol agents patrolled the main terminal, there were moments when frayed nerves showed.

Several people jumped as a red light flashed and a loud buzzer broke the relative calm, but it was merely a baggage carousel jolting to life.

At Kennedy, limousine driver Ali Shah, 36, a native of Pakistan who lives in Sheepshead Bay, picked up one of the few passengers he has had at the airport all week. The woman, just arrived from Germany, was dressed all in black.

"Her husband worked in the World Trade Center," Shah said. "Nobody's heard from him since the explosion."

Shah said people in his homeland must support America.

"When you see how many people from Pakistan were in those buildings, you have to support the United States against whoever did this," he said.

Security at both airports was tighter than usual. At Kennedy, airport security was stopping people to check carry-ons and handbags before they entered the terminal. No curbside check-in was allowed at either airport.

Most people interviewed while waiting to present their tickets had few qualms about taking to the skies.

"It's safer now than it was a week ago," said Michael Doyle, 70, of Sea Cliff, who was traveling with his wife, Marilyn, 66, to Beijing.

"Hopefully," his wife said.