Record-Breaking Holiday Travel Already Backed Up With Delays, Frustrated Passengers
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – The weather is already throwing a wrench into people's holiday travel plans.
By Friday morning, delays at LaGuardia Airport were already nearing two hours.
According to AAA, a record breaking one-in-three Americans is expected to travel this holiday season. For some it's already more difficult than expected.
WEB EXTRA: Read AAA's complete travel forecast (.pdf)
AAA says Friday is one of the busiest travel days of the year and that's leaving some airline passengers seeing red.
It breaks down like this:
- 102.1 million people are expected to travel by car
- 6.7 million people will travel by air
- 3.7 million will travel by trains, buses and cruise ships
"My flight has been cancelled. So I have to try to figure out another way home," North Carolina-bound flyer Kaitlyn Snyder said.
The rain and strong winds are causing widespread delays and cancellations. Outbound flights were delayed an average of nearly 45 minutes on Friday.
Inbound flights have been held up more than twice that long according to tracking website Flight Aware.
"The delay is an hour and a half right now. It's an American Airline tiny plane. I travel, I know how this works. The small planes usually get cancelled. Knock on wood hopefully that doesn't happen," holiday flyer Peter Colin added.
The weather is also making it more difficult just to get to the airport.
Construction on the Garden State Parkway is causing backups that added time to the commute.
Watch: AAA's Robert Sinclair On Holiday Travel
"You know how it is in New York. When it rains you better plan in an extra hour," commuter Tim Ward told CBS2's Aundrea Cline-Thomas.
Once frustrated passengers actually make it to the airport, many are left just sitting, waiting, and hoping their patience will pay off.
Travel experts are urging everyone to check their flight status before coming to the airport and allow plenty of extra time to get here.
