A Cloud of Ash
How would you feel if you were unexpectedly stuck in a crowded, hectic, uncomfortable airport for an entire week? Think of this scenario: you went to Europe for a nice fun family vacation for a week. All you're money has been used, you're getting sick of traveling and all you want to do is just go home. You go to the airport to find out that your flight (along with 95,000 others) was cancelled due to the eruption of a volcano that wasn't even on the same continent. Well, unfortunately, this has been a reality to hundreds of thousands of people right now.
The volcano that erupted in Iceland has been detrimental to travelers as well as Europe's airlines. So far, they have lost approximately 1.7 billion dollars. Today, April 21st, is the first day in a week that the airlines have been cleared to begin flying again. The airports are a mess-crowded with thousands of angry people just wanting to get home, and random airplanes that were unable to fly back to their own airport are taking off without any passengers in an attempt to restore order to the airlines.
With all this abrupt behavior some scientists, like physicist Michio Kaku, say that it is not over.
The best-case scenario is the worst is over, but I have my doubts. The more likely scenario is that this is a repeat of 1821, where for 14 months that very same volcano sputtered. We'll have to look for windows to shoot airplanes through or over. It's going to sputter for quite a while.
Hopefully, the worst is over because if this keeps up Europe's economy will take a detrimental hit. In my opinion, working in an airline just might be the worst job to have during this time.
Comments
Dear Chelsea, My family has
Dear Chelsea,
My family has also been affected by the volcano crisis. My mother is a flight attendant for Delta and her normal route is to Paris. She has had to fly within the states to get any work. This is hard for her because she loses a lot of hours when she doesn't work that specific flight. Also, I have a friend that lives in Idaho who flew to France and is now stranded there. Because the flights just opened up, the airlines are going to get their employees back before most customers, so that they can get them working again. This crisis has really effected each airline that flies to Europe. The airline industry will have lost millions fo dollars by the time this is straightened out.
Thanks for your post,
Dylan