Problems Linger At Logan Airport After Mass Flight Cancellations Leave Passengers Stranded
BOSTON (CBS) -- A days-long air travel mess has passengers frustrated and skeptical about the reasons why they were stranded at Logan Airport. More than 12,000 flights nationwide were canceled and delayed over the past two days, including more than 100 flights at Logan.
"I don't wish any of this on anybody. Nobody tells you anything," said Diane Porrino, as she sat near the JetBlue ticket gate where she had been since her flight home to Florida was canceled Sunday. It had been a full day, and she still hadn't made it out of Boston.
"I'm a nurse. I've got to be at work," said Porrino.
She was stuck, like so many others after JetBlue and other airlines canceled thousands of flights over the weekend stretching into Monday.
"We got an email that our flight was canceled. I was like this can't be real," said another passenger, Matt Sahm.
"I'm just kind of frustrated that it was such a last-minute cancellation," said Elaine Zahng, also stranded at Logan.
JetBlue put out a statement saying, "Over the past several days, severe weather in the southeast and multiple air traffic control delay programs have created significant impacts on the industry."
"It's the weather," said Porrino, rolling her eyes. "It's been sunny and beautiful. We haven't had rain in a month and a half."
Experts said it's more complicated than that. "Just because it's sunny in Florida today, doesn't mean the equipment is where it should be and the flight crews are where they should be, so really there is a lot of airport politics that go on as well," said CIRE Travel CEO Eric Hrubant.
"If the staff was on standby, they may have run out of the hours they work every day," he said. "I don't think that the airlines are outright lying, but there's a lot more going on behind the scenes than just what you see out your window."