Coast to coast air travel trouble frustrating flyers
MIAMI - Thousands of travelers remain stranded after severe weather forced delays and cancellations at airports across the country.
At Miami International Airport, CBS News Miami's Peter D'Oench discovered some United Airlines passengers who had been having some serious delays in their flights.
Holly Wroten of Booneville. Mississippi said, "When we were in Memphis we have flight delays 3 times and by the time we go to Chicago we missed our connection to go to Brazil to see our grandson who had not seen in 4 years and have a bunch of birthday and Christmas presents for him. We stood in line for four hours and then went to another line for 2 hours and now we are in Miami and we don't where our luggage is. We are trying to find it. This has been a nightmare. I have probably had 2 hours of sleep since Tuesday night."
Her husband Lee Wroten said "Now we don't know where our luggage is. It is probably still in Chicago."
Aurora Aguero of Jacksonville drove to Miami to take a United Airlines flight to San Francisco to see family members and said "They delayed our flight 2 hours and then we had to wait 8 hours before they canceled the flight and now there's no flights left so now we have to wait 2 days to catch a flight out of here and we hope we may be able to leave tomorrow. Our flight on United was canceled. They could not put us on a United flight so they put us on a flight on American and United paid for it. It's important thought not to be upset with the ticket agents as many people seem to be. It is not their fault. Just treat life as an adventure. But I have to say my children are exhausted."
On Wednesday, flight tracking company FlightAware says more than 1,900 flights were canceled in the U.S. More than 28,000 flights were delayed.
Airlines are blaming the mess on FAA staffing shortages. In response, an FAA spokesperson said the agency is willing to collaborate with anyone seriously willing to join them to solve the problem.
"It's easy to think it's all-weather, but it's not. There are about four things contributing to this perfect storm. There's air traffic control staffing. It's not only about 77 to 80% of where it should be. That means they've got slow things down. They don't have replacements. It's increased demand that we've seen coming for the last year. And then it's unrealistic airline scheduling to begin with whether or not withstanding. You can't do connecting flights that are considered legal with a 33-minute connection, even in the best of weather," said CBS News travel analyst Peterberg.
When you add in weather, Greenberg said all bets are off.
He said another problem is there are too many planes on the ground and not too many in the air.
"As a result, you have gridlock on taxiways of every major airport," said Greenberg.
Many travelers said since their delays and cancelations were weather-related, the airlines aren't helping them pay for a place to stay.
"If it truly is weather, the airlines don't owe you anything. It's called an act of God. But if it's bad, scheduling bad management on the ground, crew problems, anything, anything that's under the airlines control they do use, they do owe you something and there's pending rulemaking from the US Department of Transportation to make that happen," said Greenberg.
Miami International Airport spokesman Jack Varela had some advice for travelers this holiday weekend. "Pack your patience and allow for plenty of time. If you are taking a domestic flight, come 2 hours in advance and if you are taking an international flight come 2 1/2 hours in advance. If you can take an Uber or a Lyft or any other type of transportation, great. We are expecting an average of 145,000 passengers a day through the holiday and that is up from an average of 110,000 passengers a day."
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is forecasting 568,194 travelers to fly in/out between Friday, June 30, and Wednesday, July 5, a 9.1 percent increase from the 2022 holiday projection.
The airport's busiest travel days during the six-day July 4th holiday period should be Sunday, July 2, and Wednesday, July 5, with 108,412 and 107,148 daily travelers, respectively. Overall, an average of nearly 95,000 daily passengers are expected to move through the airport for this holiday period.
Meanwhile, the state DOT and FHP are taking safety precautions this long holiday weekend. They took D'Oench inside the Sunguide Transportation management center in West Miami-Dade where 400 cameras have feeds that monitor the roads and highways. FDOT says it also has some 40 road rangers that are available and showed us one of their 6 special, incident response vehicles.
Stacy Miller, the District 6 Secretary for FDOT, said "Before you hop in a car, plan ahead and allow plenty of time and don't drink and rive and wear your seat belt and don't get distracted behind the wheel."
FHP Major Roger Reyes said "Your tires are the first line of defense and make sure they are not worn or underinflated as that can lead to crashes and look and lock. Never leave a vulnerable child or pet unattended. And remember to use your seat belts.
He also cautioned people about aggressive driving. He says Aggressive drivers are "selfish because they don't pay attention to other lives on the road. You have got to look at everyone out there as someone's family and be respectful to each other and stay clear of aggressive drivers. Let them pass you and if there is a problem call *347 or 911. We need to make sure we are all respectful of each other. It is all about humanity,"
He said there are extra penalties with citations for aggressive driving.
Sue Kawalerski, the Bike 305 Manager, urged bicyclists to stay hydrated. "When you are not hydrated you can become lightheaded and that affects your interactions with other people. And make sure your check tires for air pressure and its brakes and check your cables and cranks. Those are the A-B-Cs that you should be aware. Many people also do not realize that it is illegal for a child under the age of 16 to not wear a helmet. I wear one myself."