Video: Flights finally leaving

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SEATAC, Wash. - Thousands of travelers stranded at Sea-Tac International Airport for days may actually find their way home for the holidays.

Alaska and Horizon airlines are resuming near-normal schedules today, and the airport says all stranded passengers could be gone by Wednesday.

Alaska and Horizon account for about half the Sea-Tac flights. Portland flights are still restricted by snow and displaced planes and flight crews.

Tuesday morning Alaska put an embargo on unaccompanied minors and pets due to low staffing, but due to the improving weather conditions, they rescinded that move later in the day, according to airline spokesman Paul McElroy.

"The issue when we're under severe storms is that we just don't want to have an unaccompanied minor stranded in a connecting city, ror example, when they're not with one parent or the other," McElroy said. "They're in our charge, so we have be sure they're constantly under our care."

Even though most flights are moving, passengers ticketed for travel are still encouraged to contact their airlines to confirm flights before going to the airport. If flights are canceled, they should rebook travel arrangements by phone or online.

Only a quarter of all scheduled flights were getting out of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Monday, and many would-be travelers were being turned away.

By Monday evening, Sea-Tac Airport cleared and opened two runways. The new third runway was cleared overnight in case it was needed.

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Frustrated travelers

Some travelers have been stranded since Friday by the snowstorm that hit the Northwest or their destination. With many nearby hotels booked, many spent the nights in the crowded terminals.

“If somebody would just come along and say this is what's happening, give you some reassurances it would make you feel better,” said one man.

The lines seemed absolutely endless - stretching hundreds of people deep.

A soldier with just 14 days of leave was already down to 11, his precious time slipping away.

The Red Cross brought in about 200 cots and the airport was bringing in basic supplies like water and diapers.

Adding to the frustration was a mountain of lost luggage and checked bags that weren't being released to travelers, even if people just wanted to pick them up and go back home.

Shortly after 8 a.m. Monday, United Airlines announced that travelers who live in the area and who are trying to rebook should go home and rebook on the phone or online as no flights were being rebooked until after Christmas.

Sea-Tac is the main hub for Alaska Airlines, which was hit the hardest hit since it has the most flights. If you count up the cancellations at both Sea-Tac and Portland, Alaska ended up blowing out 450 flights.

Hawaiian Air canceled all flights to Hawaii on Monday.

"From an operations standpoint, we actually have our runways open, they are clear," airport spokesman Perry Cooper said on Monday. "The struggle now is getting some of those aircraft in here. It's just that system-wide set of dominoes that have fallen for the airlines and they're trying to get folks in and out of here as fast as they can."

Area hotels booked up over the weekend and at least 3,000 people have been spending nights at the airport as delays and cancelations mounted. Cooper says the airport has handed out 2,000 blankets and they've been working with the American Red Cross to bring in some cots as well.

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Travelers were forced to spend the night at Sea-Tac after their flights were cancelled this weekend.

"The Christmas spirit is kind of struggling, but people have been really patient out here. We've actually had some carolers who have wandered by," Cooper said.

Greyhound, Amtrak rolling

Tuesday morning, Greyhound announced all buses would be running today, including those from Seattle to Spokane and Portland/Eugene. While there is no promise of service south of Eugene, it's an improvement from recent days when service was at a halt.

About 40 passengers have been stranded at the station or homeless shelters since heavy snow hit over the weekend.

Amtrak is also trying to resume normal operations through Washington and Oregon.

Amtrak say it plans to operate most of its trains Tuesday between Eugene, Ore., and Vancouver, British Columbia. Check train status by calling 800-USA-Rail or clicking online at Amtrak.com.

Stuck in Portland

Hundreds of flights were cancelled at the Portland International Airport, due to the latest storm.

A spokesperson said the main reason in Portland was that PDX is not equipped with enough de-icing machines to quickly take care of all the planes so planes are sitting on the tarmac. Because of that, they don’t have anywhere to put the planes that would be coming in, so they are cancelling those flights.

They do plan to have as many planes take off from PDX as possible but there will be delays while they work to get them properly de-iced, officials said.

All across Portland, Oregon, travelers were caught between origin and destination. About 200 people spent the night at the airport Saturday night and another 300 Sunday.

At the Greyhound bus station in Old Town, another 100 people had set up a second home.

A group of three sat against a cool brick wall not far from the ticket counter. Fast friends get made in hopeless situations.

Darlene Robb, 56, met Joshua Wharen, 20, on their bus to Portland. She was heading from Santa Rosa, Calif. to Grangeville, Idaho. He was going from Fort Bliss, Texas to Spokane, Wash.

Erica Wilcox, 22, spotted the duo in Portland, caught, herself, between Great Lakes, Ill. and Klamath Falls, Ore. She saw Wharen's Army jacket -- she's in the Navy -- and thought they were probably good people.

That was Saturday. On Monday, they were playing cards on a box of doughnuts, Robb was calling the two younger ones "my adopted kids" and Wilcox was accusing Wharen of cheating. "You're trying to look at my cards!"

If they had to be stuck, they said, this terminal wasn't such a bad place. Greyhound had offered up a buffet of sorts with things like bananas, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and soda. And then there were the slices of pizza and the chips and the granola bars that the three had hidden away in a private stash under some blankets.

If all went well, all three expected to be on buses sometime Tuesday, heading home to family, to friends.

Back at the airport, Nathaniel Barnett, 26, rushed through a packed terminal, in his hand a piece of poster board and a simple message: "Rides PDX to Seattle."

He'd heard on the news that people were charging for rides between the two cities. He has a Nissan Pathfinder, four-wheel drive and some snow tires. And now a sign.

"This weather really is just like driving on Mount Hood," Barnett said. He's done that more than couple times.

He hasn't set a price just yet, figures he and his friend will just put their message out, and see what sort of response they get. (For the record, another man was asking $150.)

"I know there's definitely people who need a ride," Barnett said. "I've been in their same situation."