WASHINGTON — U.S. airlines resumed limited operations Sunday at Washington-area airports lashed by Hurricane Irene while New York, the nation's busiest air hub, assessed the storm's wrath.
With skies clearing and damage from feared Irene minimal, a few arrivals descended on the capital area's three airports -- Reagan National and Dulles in Virginia and BWI in Maryland.
The biggest airlines canceled virtually all service for the day throughout the Northeast and hoped to restart flights in earnest on Monday.
It could take a couple of days to get operations back to normal, aviation officials said.
More than 10,000 flights were canceled from Friday through Monday, most at New York-area airports that handle about 6,000 flights per day and 100 million passengers a year.
Carriers heavily affected include US Airways, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines.
All three New York airports remained effectively closed Sunday morning.
Airlines abandoned Northeast airports ahead of the storm to keep their planes away from hurricane-force winds and torrential rains.
Amtrak, the nation's only long-haul passenger rail service, canceled all Northeast trains for Sunday.
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