Some grounded Cape Air planes resuming flights; Faulty engine part replaced

Cape Air had between five and seven of its 49 airplanes back in the skies as of yesterday evening, after a third incidence of engine failure forced a voluntary grounding of its entire fleet on Tuesday, amid one of its busiest weeks of the year.

Mechanics were working around the clock to replace a faulty engine part in the Cessna 402 twin-engine propeller planes, with representatives from the engines' manufacturer, Continental Teledyne, overseeing installations.

``We're very happy with the progress,'' Cape Air spokeswoman Michelle Haynes said. ``We expect to be partially up by Friday and fully up on Monday.''

The disruption in service came a day before the opening nights of the Nantucket Film Festival and the Provincetown International Film Festival. Organizers for both were left to scramble to make new travel arrangements for their incoming contingents of actors, producers, screenwriters and others.

Nantucket festival officials arranged for car service or buses to get festival attendees to Hyannis, where they could hop a ferry or fly via Island Airlines, which is accepting Nantucket Airlines tickets.

Bay State Cruises, one of the sponsors of the Provincetown festival, stepped in and offered ferry service to those who planned to head to the Outer Cape via Cape Air, said Stacey Roberts, director of publicity.

The planes that resumed service yesterday were flying between Boston and Martha's Vineyard and between San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.

``We still don't have any Nantucket flights, but that could change by tomorrow,'' Haynes said. ``It's a very fluid situation.''

Haynes recommended that passengers check www.flycapeair.com to keep abreast of which flights the airline is resuming.

Cape Air had triple the number of reservation agents on hand to answer calls from passengers scheduled to fly with the regional airline.

About 40 had requested refunds as of 11:40 a.m. yesterday; the rest rebooked, according to Haynes.

``The reaction from the 3,000 or 4,000 passengers that will be inconvenienced over the next three days is amazing,'' she said. ``We had one irate passenger.''

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