MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) - After days of delays at airports in South Florida and across the country, travelers are finally taking flight after a chaotic weekend filled with delayed flights, missed connections and cancellations.
Hundreds of flights were canceled throughout the holiday weekend, leaving many scrambling to get home.
“We have families, I have kids, you know. I’ve gotta get back too, so I don’t know, we’ll see what’s going to happen,” said Olti Mimani. “They gave us a couple of options, but they’re on Wednesday, so we can’t stay here until Wednesday, so I don’t know, we’re thinking maybe renting a car and driving a bus at this point.”
“Today is not going to happen anymore. I have to go get a hotel, and then come back maybe tomorrow early in the morning again,” said Vernon Chumdro.
Chumdro spent Memorial Day weekend in Atlanta. He said bad weather forced him to take a later flight out of Georgia, which made him miss his connecting flight in Miami.
“When they cancelled my flight in Atlanta because of the weather, they say it’s not their fault, so we’re not gonna give you accommodations and anything,” said Chumdro.
Wicked weather played a big role in cancellations. One family said their flight back to Honduras was cancelled because of storms.
“It’s very difficult to stay here because it’s on the floor, and we don’t have many things, and we didn’t know that the flight was cancelled,” said Isabella Cardoza.
The cancellation left her entire family, including small kids, stranded at Miami International Airport.
“It’s very stressful,” said Cardoza.
A spokesperson for MIA told 7News they had close to 170 flights delayed and another 240 cancelled and plenty of issues for people trying to fly out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, with Delta having the most cancellations there.
The company stated weather and traffic control, vendor staffing and an increase in COVID cases are contributing to the problem.
“I was supposed to take the connecting flight from JFK to Fort Lauderdale at 11 a.m., but it was delayed until 1, and I was lucky enough to get onto a 7 a.m. flight,” said a woman.
Things at South Florida airports are starting to get back on track. However, weather and other factors are still impacting some flights around the country. As a whole, more than 700 flights were cancelled.
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