27447: Hermantin(News)Flights to and from Haiti canceled (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

lhermantin@hotmail.com

Posted on Thu, Feb. 02, 2006


AIRLINES
Flights to and from Haiti canceled
American Airlines said it has canceled flights to and from Port-au-Prince on 
Monday and Tuesday because of fears of unrest related to upcoming elections.
BY INA PAIVA CORDLE AND TRENTON DANIEL
tdaniel@MiamiHerald.com

Anticipating political unrest coinciding with upcoming elections in Haiti, 
American Airlines said Wednesday it has canceled flights to and from 
Port-au-Prince on Monday and Tuesday, causing a headache for those trying to 
cast their ballots.

The cancellations are meant to ensure the safety of employees, flight crews and 
passengers, particularly as they travel to and from the airport, according to 
American spokesman Tim Wagner.

''We took a look at the history of unrest coinciding [with elections], and 
there is definitely a history there,'' he said.

On Tuesday, some 3.5 million registered Haitian voters are expected to head to 
the polls to elect a head-of-state and a number of senators and deputies. The 
vote comes after an armed revolt expelled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide two 
years ago.

Like the U.N. peacekeepers who arrived in Haiti after Aristide's ouster, Prime 
Minister Gérard Latortue, the interim government's appointed caretaker, has 
been widely criticized for not doing enough to stem mounting unrest.

American has three flights daily from Miami International Airport to 
Port-au-Prince, one flight daily from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood and one from 
New York's JFK.

American plans to resume flights Feb. 8.

''We will obviously keep a close eye on what the situation is and adapt to that 
as well,'' Wagner said.

Until then, stateside Haitians seeking to vote in the elections may have 
difficulties reaching their homeland. They are not allowed to cast their votes 
from the United States.

Some will likely have to fly to the Dominican Republic, which neighbors Haiti 
on the island of Hispaniola, and then drive across the border.

Among those held up by the cancellation: Haitian superstar Wyclef Jean, a 
member of the Grammy-winning hip-hop trio The Fugees.

Jean plans to skip next week's Grammys to cast his ballot and travel from Los 
Angeles to the Dominican Republic via Miami, and then across the border.

''No disrespect to the Grammys, but I have to vote,'' Jean, a Haitian citizen, 
told The Miami Herald in a phone interview. ``It's going to be crazy, but it's 
important that I make it.''

While the cancellation caused a headache for some, there were others who found 
the decision to be no surprise.

''It's something we're so accustomed to,'' said Patrick Tardieu, owner of a 
South Florida shipping company. ``This is not something new to us -- not at 
all.''

Alternative ways of getting to Haiti might include Air France, which flies from 
Miami to Port-au-Prince on Thursdays and Sundays and Tuesdays. Return flights 
leave Port-au-Prince for Miami on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Mondays. The 
airline still plans to fly those Monday and Tuesday flights as of late 
Wednesday, a reservations agent said.

At least one other carrier, La Caribeenne des Transportes Aeriens, flies to 
Port-au-Prince from Santo Domingo.

Passengers can fly on another carrier from Miami to Santo Domingo -- or from 
Fort Lauderdale to San Juan to Santo Domingo -- and then fly to Port-au-Prince. 
But it was unclear whether that airline will be flying to Port-au-Prince on 
Monday and Tuesday.