Late nights aren't great nights for people trying to catch a taxi at McCarran International Airport, where a recent slew of delayed flights have fueled long waits in overnight cab lines, the Nevada Taxicab Authority was told Tuesday.
Waits of up to 45 minutes for a cab have been noted recently after midnight, a time where incoming flights are usually few and far between. But bad weather on the East Coast has resulted in numerous delayed flights arriving later than that.
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On Friday between 1 a.m. and 3:30 a.m., the airport had a dozen late-arriving flights. During that same time frame Saturday, there were five late flights, Harry Waters, McCarran's assistant landside operations director, told the taxicab board.
"We've been getting pretty good service during the daytime. At night, from about 10:30 in the evening to around closing down the cab stands, we've been experiencing some wide (waiting) times," he said.
"It's almost overwhelming at times, when you have 12 flights come in all at once. You're talking about several thousand people," Waters said.
Some cab drivers said they'd head to the airport late at night if they were notified ahead of time that delayed flights were en route, rather than being called to the airport after those flights had arrived and taxi lines had formed.
"We probably need a little more communication from the airport to the drivers," said Karla Hiropolous, a cab driver and labor union official. "Most drivers don't expect there to be anything going on at the airport at two in the morning."
To help manage long lines, the airport will open as needed a new cab loading overflow area on the north side of the main terminal, which was once a staging area for limousines and shuttle buses.
"We plan to use that during our peak times," Waters said.
Airport staff will direct cab drivers and passengers to that loading area as needed.
The Taxicab Authority took no action, claiming it wasn't a question of regulation. But board officials urged airport, cab company and driver union officials to resolve the issue.
