FAA just announced US airspace re-opens midday.

United told me that they will start flying at 3:00pm.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. airlines plan to resume scheduled flights Wednesday afternoon after an unprecedented halt to all aviation traffic following Tuesday's hijackings and dramatic air assaults on landmark buildings in New York and Washington.

In the nation's capital, the Federal Aviation Administration (news - web sites) said it expected to reopen the national air space at noon EDT but bringing the commercial airline system back up to full speed is not expected any time soon.

Details on operations and new security measures were to be announced by Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta (news - web sites) at a mid-morning news conference.

``It's fair to say there is not going to be a mass exodus of planes and passengers that have been on the ground because some of the airlines have planes literally in the wrong place to fly their schedules,'' FAA spokesman Les Dorr said.

``There have to be adjustments,'' he said. ``People ought to call their airline to see if there will be a plane to take them where they want to go.''

Some flights were canceled and some planned services were already pushed back, some carriers said.

The FAA halted all air traffic Tuesday following the hijacking and crashes of four commercial airliners in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington.

It was the first national grounding of all commercial aircraft. Military, law enforcement and emergency aircraft were still flying.

There are roughly 40,000 departures of scheduled air service daily in the United States, and at any time during a typical weekday morning more than 4,000 planes are in the air.

An undetermined number of domestic flights in the air during Tuesday's tragedies broke from their flight schedules and diverted to other airports. The pilots and airlines, not the FAA, determined where planes would land.

Southwest Airlines Co. and America West Airlines, a unit of America West Holdings Corp., said they would start flying again at midday.

Delta Air Lines Inc. and Alaska Air Group Inc. units Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air said they were prepared to resume flights later in the day.

NO WORD FROM UNITED, AMERICAN

United Airlines, a unit of UAL Corp., and American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corp., had not released statements on their plans to resume service. The hijacked planes in Tuesday's attack were from those carriers.

On corporate Web sites, both United and American noted that flights were being held on the ground until at least noon EDT due to the FAA ban. Continental Airlines also had not released a flight resumption statement.

Aviation authorities also said most big U.S. airport terminals were closed overnight, so bringing those facilities back on line might take time. For instance, Washington's Reagan National Airport near the Pentagon (news - web sites) was a virtual ghost town.

Save for a few emergency vehicles and security personnel, the airport terminal was deserted. Rows of commercial jets were parked at their gates, their power systems turned off.

Mineta said Tuesday that heightened security will be in place for the resumption of service, including tighter surveillance, searches and an end to curb-side check-in.

Dorr said passengers should be prepared for longer check-ins and preflight routines. ``If people are used to getting to the airport an hour early, they should devote more time,'' he said.

He said the agency will have all air traffic control facilities staffed to a level that would permit the resumption of flight operations. ``We will do whatever it takes to get airplanes moving,'' he said.

The four carriers that released resumption plans said some flights would be canceled.

Delta, the third-largest U.S. airline, canceled all flights scheduled to operate through 6 p.m. EDT. The cancellations affect all Delta, Delta Shuttle and Delta Express flights.

Low-fare carrier Southwest canceled flights scheduled to depart before noon.

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air said they expected to operate only about 25 percent of their normally scheduled departures Wednesday.

America West said only that it planned to operate a ''substantial'' portion of its Wednesday schedule, including flights scheduled for earlier departure, which will be delayed until the federal authorities' set start time.

FAA just announced they will * * * N O T * * * now allow flights to resume at midday. No reason given. New time to be announced.

CNN reports now that the WHITE HOUSE will now publicly announce the time that airports will open. Not the DOT or FAA. (???)

Some large airports such as IAD Dulles report there are * * N O * * flights scheduled for the balance of today.

CNN reports now that the WHITE HOUSE will now publicly announce the time that airports will open. Not the DOT or FAA. (???)

Some large airports such as IAD Dulles report there are * * N O * * flights scheduled for the balance of today.

Logan Airport just announced:

- No curbside checkin
- Armed state police at all security checks
- No vehicles within 300 ft of the terminal buildings (They are towing away all vehicles in the close-in garages and closing them indefinitely).
- No knives of any sort to be sold or provided within secure areas of the terminal building (including plastic knives at food courts)

They don't sound like they will open today.

From united.com (emphasis is mine):

United will focus its flight operations today on getting passengers onboard aircraft diverted yesterday to their destinations wherever possible. United will not operate any scheduled flights until at least 6 p.m. (CDT) today and will likely not operate more than a small percentage of its daily departures today. United will not operate any originating international flights.

For further information on flight operations, customers may contact United at:

United Automated Flight Information: 1-800-824-6200
United Reservations: 1-800-241-6522
United web site: www.united.com (click on the "Home" link above, then follow the instructions in the "Flight Status" box)

United now says no flights before 6pm today, and even if they do start flying there will not be very many. And no international flights leaving the USA today.

Not according to what I heard, sadly.

The FAA has now said that the flight ban has been extended indefinitely!

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum.../002933-6.html

Air Canada flights are to resume this afternoon. However, as with most US airlines, their aircraft are not in correct locations to begin a regular schedule. Most flights today will be repositioning flights.

No plastic knives in the food service operations? That is quite an overreaction. If someone really wants to smuggle in a plastic knife, it will not be a problem (unless security begins strip searching all passengers). How about ballpoint pens? They can be fashioned into weapons. All pens should be banned from the secured areas of the airport-- from now on only crayons.

Continental Airlines Statement on Wednesday's Flight Operations
As of 10:30 a.m. CDT, no commercial airline has been given approval to resume operations. As a result, Continental Airlines expects to operate only minimal flights today, consisting principally of the continuation of flights that were diverted yesterday. Of course, any service will require the government's approval to resume operations.

The latest information on Continental flight operations will be posted at continental.com.