Generating some moxie during blackout

NEW YORK -- Travel agents stared at dark computer screens, airports went dim and stranded tourists partied in hotel lobbies as a good chunk of North America came to a screeching halt during the blackout of 2003.

But what could have been still another debilitating shock to an already troubled industry appeared to inflict little permanent damage as travel businesses were up and running almost as soon as electricity was restored in the hours and, in the worst cases, days following the vast power outage that cascaded through much of the Northeast and Great Lakes starting Aug. 14.

Some travel enterprises, however, did not have the luxury of waiting patiently for the juice to get loose. Not hotels, anyway.

Anybody got a pen?

At the packed, 2,000-room New York Hilton, a lack of power didn't mean a lack of service.

"We were able to register 250 guests without electricity or computers," said a hotel spokeswoman. "We just did it the old-fashioned way: with pen, paper and flashlights."

When its rooms sold out, the hotel accommodated guests in public areas and meetings space.

"We served dinner, sandwiches, pastries and fruit to nearly 2,000 people that night," the spokeswoman said.

At the Loews Regency in New York, where backup power kept the lights on for several hours, general manager Stuart Schwartz described the blackout experience as a big "slumber party."

"I opened up my dining room and had one team making sandwiches," Schwartz said. "We were serving food and drink and keeping people comfortable."

Of course, 50 million people can't lose power without there being a few kinks. When the power went out at the 1,900-room Marriott Marquis, backup generators were supposed to kick in. They didn't. The same thing happened at the Marriott Renaissance Times Square.

There were reports that some guests couldn't get into their rooms because the power outage rendered the room locks unable to read electronic room keys, but a Marriott spokesman said the locks had backup, battery-generated power.

Nevertheless, the decision was made during the daylight hours to evacuate the hotel.

Blackout, red ink

Perhaps hardest hit of all were the airlines.

According to the Air Transport Association, the blackout could cost the airline industry tens of millions of dollars. But the full extent of the financial damage won't be known until the carriers report it themselves.

Meanwhile, JetBlue, based at New York's Kennedy, won some positive press for canceling only two of about 45 flights the day the lights went out.

The airline called in extra staff, used flashlights and floodlights and processed flights with pen and paper, a spokesman said.

Current affairs

For agents, just protecting data is a key concern during a major power failure.

David Craig, owner and president of Craig Travel in Toronto, said a device linked to the agency's computers provided enough emergency current to shut them down safely.

The blackout, he said, "teaches you to back up everything."

Linda Garback, CEO and president of Total Travel Management in Troy, Mich., said the firm outsources for redundancy in its in-house data networks. When the electricity failed, a generator provided the power to bring up the network.

At American Express, which waived its exchange fees for all clients in affected areas through Aug. 17, calls were rerouted to branches in Cambridge, Mass., and San Francisco, while staff outside the blackout region called customers scheduled for travel in the affected areas.

In New York, American Express opened a Park Avenue office at noon the day after the blackout, despite lacking power. Staff sat on the sidewalk to serve clients, mostly with emergency cash or traveler's checks.

Fill 'er up

Cars do not yet run on electricity, but car rental companies do.

"We went back to writing manual agreements," a Hertz Rent A Car spokeswoman said.

Hertz also was able to divert calls from its call center in Toronto to its Oklahoma City facility.

As for the blackout's impact on business, the car rental outfits reported a spike in cancellations due to rerouted or canceled flights, but spokespeople for Hertz and the Cendant Car Rental Group, which includes Avis and Budget, said the companies experienced a sharp increase in one-way rentals to stranded commuters.

Cover me

Generally, travel insurers are treating the blackout like a natural disaster and have not been overwhelmed by claims.

Beth Godlin, senior vice president, travel industry sales and marketing at Access America, said the company is projecting claims of $100,000 to $1 million.

Travel Guard, the largest insurer, said it expects 8% to 10% of its insured travelers to make claims, mostly for delayed trips.

A brief delay

At the cruise-ship terminal in Manhattan, the Aug. 14 departure of the Carnival Victory was delayed an-hour-and-a-half on its four-day cruise to Canada, a Carnival spokeswoman said.

The line had finished its computerized check-in procedures and was preparing to depart when the lights went out.

The gangways to the ship operate electronically, so the ramps had to be pulled away manually.

Andrew Compart, Nadine Godwin, Michael Milligan,

Jorge Sidron and Rebecca Tobin contributed to this report.

By Jerry Limone

NEW YORK -- Expedia and Travelocity said lessons learned from 9/11 helped them cope with the blackout.

"We are better prepared now than we were two years ago," said Robb Krieg, Expedia's vice president of agency operations. "Crisis response is more formalized now."

One key change from two years ago, said Krieg, is that there now is a team dedicated to communicating with the airlines in times of crisis.

The team records updates related to the crisis -- for example, changes in cancellation policies -- and feeds them to agents answering phones. Travelocity has a similar setup.

The phones certainly rang more than usual due to the blackout. On Aug. 15, the day after the blackout, calls were up 45% over the previous Friday, said Expedia. At Travelocity, agents fielded 1,000 more calls than usual Aug. 14, said Rick Welch, senior vice president of operations and customer care.

"We brought in 50 additional customer-care reps to cover that," Welch said.

During the blackout, Expedia said customer hold times averaged just over two minutes, about a minute-and-a-half longer than usual. "9/11 really woke up a lot of people in how to handle these events," Welch said.