A day's delay in Bermuda left most air passengers unfazed as they prepared to board their flights yesterday.

Foul weather in the States had grounded all flights to the States on Sunday with the east coast hit by snow and high winds.

Airport general manager James Howes said an hour's wait was the worst passengers suffered yesterday as flights returned to normal.

Travel agent Stan Morse, who was waiting with his pal Arlin Schmidt, told : "We made the most of it ? we went out and played another round of golf.

"Yesterday was 40 knot winds but we played well and it was fun."

Nor was he fazed by Bermuda's chilly climes. Mr. Morse, who is a Bermuda regular and sells the destination as a golf venue, said: "We expected this, it wasn't surprising. We played five different golf courses in four days."

Student Jorie Honigschmidt suffered a five-hour fruitless wait for her flight on Sunday but enjoyed the extra day here ? even if time was pressing.

"I have to hand in a paper to my professor."

However those waiting to return to Bermuda had a different take.

Police media spokesman Dwayne Caines said his efforts to get home had proven to be a nightmare.

Mr. Caines, who was in the Caribbean for a week, said he was to fly into New York on Saturday but found himself in Florida.

"I actually left the Caribbean very early Saturday morning and was rerouted to Miami," he said. From there he was eventually able to get a flight to New York but then found himself grounded there by all the snow.

"I've been in New York since Saturday morning and have been bumped from four flights," he said. Luckily having lived in the city for a while, Mr. Caines was able to bunk with friends and wait out the delays in relative comfort. A lot of people were staying at the airport but I don't want to sleep in an airport so I stayed with friends."

While describing the ordeal as "a nightmare" he admitted he has not had to do a lot of to-ing and fro-ing to JFK.

"I just kept calling the airline and I'm on the mail list. They cancelled the flight on Saturday night but said to check back in the morning. So I did but they cancelled that.

"They said to come back for the evening flight and when I called, it too had been cancelled. They cancelled the flight this morning (Monday, January 24) and so I'm just on my way to the airport now to try and get on the 6.45 p.m. flight," he said.

"It's been a nightmare but such is life," he said.