Philadelphia International Airport still reporting flight delays, cancellations after weekend weather
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Stormy weather locally and around the country wreaked havoc on air travel for the third straight day at Philadelphia International Airport.
Delays and cancellations are piling up at the airport as Debby winds its way through the Southeast.
Many flights to Florida cities like Tampa, Jacksonville, and Miami were canceled. Titi Coker from Northeast Philadelphia, whose flight to Orlando was canceled Monday, was among the passengers affected.
"I feel so sad because I've planned this trip for the last six months," Coker said.
PHL issued a weather-related ground stop Saturday afternoon that was lifted shortly thereafter. The travel disruptions extended through the weekend and into Monday.
According to FlightAware.com, there were 338 delays and 186 cancellations as of 11 p.m. Sunday. By Monday afternoon, FlightAware was reporting nearly 100 cancellations and more than 160 delays for flights arriving and departing from Philadelphia. American Airlines has had the most delays and cancellations at PHL.
Travelers like Andrei Maiseyeu from Cleveland said they had no choice but to cope. Maiseyeu's flight to Portland, Maine, was scheduled to depart at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, but he said it was delayed until 6 a.m. Monday because of bad weather.
When asked how he feels about the situation, Maiseyeu said, "You cannot do anything about it. You cannot be mad at the rain."
The weather also threw a monkey wrench into Ari Walsh's plans. The 15-year-old said her flight from Zurich, Switzerland, to Washington, D.C., Saturday night was diverted to PHL because of storms.
"Once we go to Philadelphia, there was lightning," Ari said. "The international planes that were supposed to be leaving weren't able to leave, and we weren't able to get a gate."
Mark Losh was supposed to fly from Philadelphia to Seattle on Saturday night, but his flight was canceled because of stormy weather. Losh had to wait until Monday afternoon for the next flight.
"I could be worse off," Losh said. "So I take a positive spin to it, but it doesn't alleviate the fact it has been trying for the last three, four days."
Airlines are working to get their flight schedules back on track, but just as one round of bad weather moves out, now there's more bad weather.
And there were other problems at the airport. One passenger contacted CBS News Philadelphia to report that several flight display boards were blank.
PHL spokesperson Heather Redfern, reached by email, wrote, "There has been an ongoing issue with our flight display boards. We are aware and are working with our vendor to determine the cause and to fix it."
Despite the travel disruptions, some passengers took it all in stride.
"My flight got canceled, so I was on a work trip out here," Marques DuPree from Oakland said Sunday. "I had to switch my flight to tomorrow morning. So, you know, it's all good. It gives me more time out here to check out Philly."
PHL urges all travelers to confirm their flight status with their airlines before heading to the airport.
