Japan quake shakes up air travel

The aftereffects of the Japanese earthquake left travelers dazed and airlines confused about when full operations might be able to resume.

Airlines canceled or delayed flights into and out of Tokyo’s Narita Airport as they assessed quake damage and recovery time.

“There’s so much going on over there right now, we’re just monitoring the situation and doing all we can,” said Dennis Leuver, a United Airlines manager at O’Hare International Airport.

United Airlines’ last flight for O’Hare to leave Tokyo’s Narita Airport before the quake arrived at 7:50 a.m. Friday, but the direct flight scheduled to arrive in the afternoon was canceled. A direct United flight to Narita, however, left a half-hour late Friday afternoon and was still expected to get in ahead of schedule Saturday. United planned a regular O’Hare schedule Saturday with two direct flights in and out of Narita, but of course advised passengers to phone ahead as departure times approached.

Japan Airlines too saw its last pre-quake flight to O’Hare arrive Friday morning, and sent a return flight out on schedule. “Operations inbound and outbound were normal,” said JAL spokeswoman Carol Anderson. Yet she added that today’s 10:20 a.m. departure was already being pushed back to 2:25 p.m.

JAL’s joint flights with American Airlines in and out of O’Hare were canceled both Friday and Saturday. An American Airlines representative said it was not known when its service between O’Hare and Tokyo would resume. AA was giving passengers the opportunity to exchange tickets.

Passengers who left Tokyo before the quake were stunned to hear about it on arrival at O’Hare.

“I was there for 11 days, and when I heard that it hit I was shocked,” Scott Cleve told WLS-TV Channel 7. “I was like, ‘Good timing that we got out when we did.’ We saw some colleagues that were leaving after us.”

Suzuka Hetterich was relieved to see her parents arrive from Japan. “They don’t live nearby, but the airport is about 200 miles from where it hit,” she said. “They do have a relative in Sendai, so they’re worried about them.”

Rina Ysuda was able to board JAL’s flight to Tokyo on Friday after spending spring break here. “I’m just worried about my friends who live in Tokyo,” she said, “and I also have a friend in Sendei, so I hope they’re safe.”