Icy Weather Strands Buses and Planes

(MoneyWatch)  Passengers taking the bus have found themselves in accidents, staying overnight on the frigid roads or stuck in Cleveland as they try to make their way to the icy, blustery Northeast. Both Megabus and Greyhound Lines reported problems, with at least one Megabus overturning in near Buffalo early this morning sending eight passengers and the driver to local hospitals. In Iowa, stranded motorists were found in cornfields and ditches by state troopers and National Guardsmen.

More than 100 motorists were rescued from the New York State Thruway after spending a night there, and the Thruway is expected to stay closed to traffic tonight. A Greyhound spokesman in Cleveland, the site of several buses of stranded passengers heading to the Northeast, said all routes had been canceled as of Thursday afternoon. Buses were also stranded in Chicago.

The storms also caused the cancellation of more than 200 flights at Chicago O'Hare International Airport and many more were delayed, creating a domino effect of problems for thousands trying to fly Thursday. On Thursday the airport advised passengers flying in to call their carrier to find out if their flight was canceled or delayed. Officials also advised arriving two hours early.

A quick perusal of Web sites shows that only one of those carriers, Alaska Airlines suggested that passengers traveling in or out of Portland, Ore. should check their flight status, while American, JetBlue and Delta airlines reported nothing amiss. Greyhound also had nothing to say on its Web site. (Megabus.com could not be reached due to a Web site problem -- probably due to their free-seat giveaway.)

I was a little disheartened that neither the airlines or Greyhound had a statement about the poor weather or delays. It almost made it seem as if none of the companies cared about the inconvenience of its passengers or that their delay, or in some cases, being stranded, wasn't important. While I'm not advising taking responsibility for the forces of nature, sometimes after a very rough day of traveling, a few words of commiseration could go a long way for customer satisfaction and loyalty.