Air travel chaos: Stuck in Big Apple – and fast running out of money

SUSAN Nicolson, a schoolteacher from Edinburgh, has been stranded in New York since Thursday following a five-day break in the United States.

Yesterday, she said: "We're now booked on the first flight out on Wednesday and we just have to keep checking the website.

"We're trying to stay optimistic because if we don't get out on Wednesday we are going to be a bit stuck for money."

Ms Nicolson said she knew of three colleagues who had been unable to return to work, but the school had been "supportive".

She added: "There are definitely worse places to be stuck, but we're at the point now that we just want to be back home, and I think our families want us to be back home too."