Canceled SoFla Flights Multiply
MIAMI (CBS4) - A monster snow storm which has 'socked in' the northeast has also stranded hundreds of travelers at Miami and Fort Lauderdale's airports.
As of 9:30 p.m. Monday night there were 147 flights cancelled at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport, according to Greg Meyer, Broward County Aviation Department spokesman, and 87 cancellations at Miami International Airport, according to Mark Henderson, MIA spokesman.
Those numbers are higher than on Christmas, Meyer said.
"These numbers are a cumulative total for the entire day. On Sunday, December 26th we had a total of 103 cancellations," he said.
Meanwhile, the fallout could be seen as Snowbirds shuffled through the rebooking line Monday at the American Airlines counter at Miami International Airport. Their wings were clipped by Northeast snowstorms stamping "cancelled" all over holiday travel plans.
Laura Villegas, along with her weary young son and husband, keeps trekking from her hotel to the airport and back, holding out hope for another flight.
Villegas told CBS4's Michael Williams, "We're trying to get to JFK for vacation. We are here from Venezuela because our flight was cancelled yesterday."
American Airlines customer service manager Michael Hurley warns that clearing the weather related travel backlog might take days. He said, "Our first available seat to book (confirmed booking), we are up to January 3rd. Right now it is standby only."
William Tobias is taking his chances in the standby line. He is trying to get home to Philadelphia. Tobias said, "I don't know. It was a chance in the dark." He's keeping his hotel room reservation just in case. Tobias added, "If it comes to that, I can't go anywhere else."
It is a sentiment widely shared as Mother Nature puts travel up and down the Eastern Seaboard in a deep freeze.
Thousands of flights across the country have been canceled as blizzard warnings extend from New Jersey to Maine.
American Airlines said in addition to canceling nearly 200 flights nationwide, gusty winds were making it difficult for crews to de-ice planes which were still scheduled to make their flights. Sixty five of those 200 canceled American flights were either in to or out of Miami International Airport.
At Miami International Airport passengers who got to the airport only to find their flights had been canceled tried to make themselves as comfortable as possible as they waited for word as to when their flight would be re-scheduled.
Lydia Patterson said this couldn't have come at a worse time as she tried to get herself and her son back to Washington DC.
"He's going into the Air Force today and his pick up time was at 1 p.m. today at his recruiter's office," said Patterson.
Vera Wardrope, who was forced to spend the night at the airport with her daughter who has special needs after their flight home was canceled, said it turned into a nightmare.
"She wasn't feeling well last night and the ambulance came and took her to Miami hospital but the doctor refused to give me any medication for her, he gave me a prescription and told me to go to the pharmacy," Wardrope said.
Travelers are urged to contact the airline before heading out to make sure their flight is still scheduled to depart on time.
Most carriers are waiving the fees they normally charge for one-time changes in affected areas. They're urging passengers to make changes through their websites.
