Delta Dealing With Backlog After Flight Disruptions
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Delta Airlines says it's trying to get back to normal after bad weather wreaked havoc on their flight schedule.
Thousands of flights have been delayed or canceled over the past five days. Sunday, Delta said it was forced to cancel at least 150 flights, including three at Miami International Airport. Airport officials also reported 31 delays.
"Originally the flight was scheduled for 7:30 p.m. It's now 9 p.m. and they're saying crew delays. It's not actually a weather delay. They're still backed up with whatever happened in Atlanta," said Clay Roberts, whose flight was delayed at Miami International Airport.
Severe weather in Atlanta led to the cancellation of some 3,000 Delta flights nationwide.
Passengers at Miami International Airport were feeling the effects as the airline tried to handle its backlog of flights.
"I was not expecting delays now that it's Sunday already," said Jane Khodos, whose flight was delayed.
Clay Roberts who travels frequently says he was not surprised his flight was delayed.
"I fly half a million miles a year for my job and mostly with Delta," said Roberts. "So the second something starts going wrong with Atlanta, you have to either book another airline or just stay away for a couple of days. Atlanta just causes a lot of back-ups if they have a problem there."
Lamar Dillon was stuck having to wait an extra hour and a half. He was also delayed leaving New York Thursday. "Actually the flights were delayed in New York too. Getting here was kind of bad," said Dillon.
Delta admits recovery from Wednesday's severe weather has not been ideal. Flight attendants were seen serving pizza to travelers who were inconvenienced. At Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport stranded passengers were frustrated.
"I asked them, 'Are you going to compensate for a hotel?' And they said, 'No, we cannot do that, sir. I can only do rebooking'."
At MIA passengers said they were thankful they were only dealing with a delay and not a cancellation.
"I guess I will just sit around and get some food, buy some souvenirs, waste some time," said Dillon.
"I'm upset but this is how it goes with air travel. It's just par for the course," said Khodos.
Customers should check delta.com for flight status information.