This weekend, more than 3,500 flights to the United States were canceled and thousands more delayed as experts reported the weather in Florida and other issues. FlightAware, a flight tracking website, has experienced significant downtime at several Florida airports, including Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa and Orlando, as well as Baltimore, New York and other airports across the country. JetBlue, Southwest, Alaska Airlines, Frontier, Spirit and American Airlines were most affected, according to FlightAware, with JetBlue and Spirit canceling one-third of Sunday scheduled flights. A family in Philadelphia wanted to fly back to Atlanta on Monday, but their flight from Newark was canceled and the only flight they were able to board was here in Philadelphia. So that meant renting a car and driving two hours south. “We had to find our own way to Philly, but they gave us a ticket. We had to pay for our own hotel room to get down here and take a flight back home,” said Tony Moore of Atlanta. . As of Monday afternoon, 61 flights had been delayed and 26 canceled in PHL. A group of students at West Deptford High School were planning to go to Disney World on Monday, but their dreams fell through. “We were all ready to go and I received the text and I was really devastated,” said Riley Axelrod. After years of canceled high school events due to COVID, students said this was the last thing they expected. “I felt it fit the way our high school goes. Why take that?” said Lia Slesinski. The many cancellations came as air travel recovered from the pandemic, with strong demand for spring break flights. People on social media complained that they waited in line or queues for hours to reschedule their canceled flights and that they were blocked for days. “Severe weather in the southeast and multiple air traffic control delays have had a significant impact on the industry,” a JetBlue spokesman said in an email. “Today’s cancellations will help us restore our operations and safely put our crews and aircraft back in place.” Southwest Airlines also reported “weather and airspace congestion” in Florida on Saturday, as well as a “technology issue.” He canceled about 1,000 flights over the weekend, but said that as of 1 p.m., he had no more cancellations on Sunday. The American said that the weather in Florida on Saturday affected his activities and he is recovering on Monday. Alaska Airlines seemed to be dealing with a separate issue. The airline said Sunday that weekend flight cancellations that began on Friday affected more than 37,000 customers and that further cancellations were possible. The airline declined to say why it canceled its flights, but referred to its statement in negotiating contracts with its pilots. Off-duty pilots picketed several US cities on Friday due to stalled negotiations. He has been without a new contract for three years. “Alaska Airlines has failed to properly plan for increased travel demand and take the necessary steps to ensure it attracts and retains pilots,” the pilots’ union said in a press release on Friday. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright © 2022 WPVI-TV. All rights reserved.
