By Suzanne Sprague, KERA 90.1 Reporter
Dallas, TX – Kevin Cox, Senior Vice President, DFW Airport: This has been one of the most trying times for DFW Airport. You cannot simply press a button and have things go back to normal.
Suzanne Sprague, KERA 90.1 Reporter: Strong words yesterday at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, where flights resumed around 2:30 p.m. after two days of lying dormant. Senior Vice President Kevin Cox called the shutdown a serious but temporary setback for aviation. It's also turning into an expensive one.
Cox: We're losing approximately $600,000 a day in revenue, the airport is. We believe that that will begin to turn up, hopefully, very quickly.
Sprague: Cox says the airport is already cutting its budget and may have to dip into contingency funds. Only 300 of the typical 2,300 flights arrived or left DFW yesterday.
[Ambient sound of plane taxiing down a runway.]
Sprague: Many of the airplanes departing DFW Airport, like this Delta jet, weren't even carrying passengers, but those on the inside were glad to see any aircraft take off [sound of airplane taking off].
Suzanne Sundman, Traveler: We were pretty excited about that, to see that the world was starting to get back into a normal flow.
Sprague: Suzanne Sundman came to Dallas on Monday to work on the computer systems at Baylor Hospital. She and three other colleagues have been trying to get home to Boston for two days. Naomi Rapoza says it's been frustrating.
Naomi Rapoza, Traveler: We've been on like 3 or 4 flights even today. We were supposed to go to Detroit and to Albany and then it was to Pennsylvania. It just keeps changing.
Sprague: Still, Rapoza and fellow traveler Ruth Simon have put the delays in perspective.
Ruth Simon, Traveler: We're safe. We're fed. Our families are intact. We've lost a colleague, which is?[she begins to cry].
Sprague: One of Simon's co-workers died on a flight that crashed Tuesday. And in hopes of preventing another terrorist takeover of an aircraft, federal, airport and airline officials have instituted extraordinary security measures at DFW.
[Sound of metal detector alarm]
Sprague: No pocket knives. No razor blades. 85 additional federal law enforcement officers in the terminals. No one-hour parking, and no curbside check-in.
Victor Woods, Skycap: It's really gonna hurt us real bad. I'm thinking about looking for a second job.
Sprague: Victor Woods has been a skycap at DFW for 11 years. And he can't afford to give up the tips he usually earns from checking in passenger bags, like he had to during the Persian Gulf War. Woods: If I keep doing this, I'll probably have to file for bankruptcy or whatever. 'Cause last time this happened, a couple of skycaps did file for bankruptcy because they didn't have enough money to pay for their rent or their car note or any bills they may be trying to keep up.
Sprague: Officials expect the new security measures will stay in force much longer than they did during the Persian Gulf War. But DFW is trying to accommodate passengers by providing some free parking and Internet access inside the terminals. They're also placing 100 volunteers in the airport to pass out drinks and assist stranded travelers. Flights will continue at DFW today, but on a reduced schedule. It could be Monday before the airport is operating at its normal level. Officials advise passengers to call ahead and plan to arrive two hours before their flights are scheduled to depart. For KERA 90.1, I'm Suzanne Sprague.