President Obama’s fundraising plans for Friday — right before the Labor Day weekend — is wreaking havoc on wealthy travelers’ plans to fly to elite locations like the Hamptons or Nantucket for the three-day holiday.
The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a no-fly order for seaplane flights beginning Friday and lasting through Sunday for certain spots near Westchester — and that order has grounded flights that were headed to East Hampton, Montauk, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, the New York Post reported.
That’s because Mr. Obama’s heading to the home on Friday of one of his top-ranked bundlers, Robert Wolf, in Purchase, New York. About 250 rich and famous will pay up to $32,000 each for the privilege of attending, the New York Post reported.
Mr. Obama’s then planning to schmooze with more Wall Street types, heading to Newport, Rhode Island, for another benefit for Democrats.
“A flight restriction was issued banning operations in the NYC area due to the president’s visit on Friday for practically the whole weekend, causing major business losses and inconvenience for our passengers on the busiest weekend of the years,” said Melissa Tomkiel, president of the seaplane company, Fly the Whale, in the New York Post.
“It is frustrating,” she said. “We have had to move at least 10 flights and cancel a number of private charters, costing us thousands of dollars. We count on this weekend to get us through the quieter months of the year. This will create a perfect storm on a holiday Friday, creating air space havoc between New York City and Boston.”
The flight restrictions begin Friday afternoon, for nearly four hours. They then start again Friday night, and last through Sunday at 10:30 a.m., the New York Post said.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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