Winter Blast Forces Thousands Of Flight Cancellations
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The weather in the northeast is causing massive headaches for people traveling home after the holidays.
South Florida airports have seen thousands of stranded passengers over the past couple days, and it could be just as bad on Friday.
Thousands of people have been standing in line to re-book their flights.
That's because virtually all flights to New York and surrounding areas have been canceled.
Related: Shelters Open For Homeless As Temps Drop In South Florida
Monica and Hunter Gutesta thought they were going to beat the winter storm pounding the northeast.
They made their flight to New York when so many others were canceled.
"We were only an hour away from New York when we diverted and turned around and came back here," Monica explained. "That was a little sad. We thought we made it."
They became like thousands of others, miles away from home, waiting in line to find out when they'll get there.
"We thought it would be easy to fly out of Miami to DCA, but three hours in it doesn't seem so easy," Hunter added.
Pierre Colin's went home for the holidays to Haiti. When his flight to New York was canceled Thursday he took the next flight to Miami.
"They said they were going to put us on the next flight," Colin said. "And that didn't happen."
This is why; the snow is coming in sideways at New York's airports and Boston's Logan Airport is a ghost town.
The 800 plus flight cancelations at New York airports eventually rippled across the country.
More than 130 flights from Miami and Fort Lauderdale have been canceled thus far.
And the storm isn't over or cleared up yet.
On the bright side, there could be worse places to be stuck.
"We will get two days in Miami. We have time to enjoy it a beautiful city," Monica said.
That couple ended up unable to re-book their flight. They gave up. took an Uber to the beach for drinks and will deal with it on Friday.
And as for Friday, New York airports announced they intend to open in the morning.
However they have already canceled about 200 flights.
South Florida airports are showing about 60 cancellations for Friday so far.
It's best to check with your airline before heading to the airport.
