Many flights canceled, delayed at SFO as bomb cyclone blasts nation
SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT -- On one of the busiest travel days of the year, hundreds of thousands of people across the country were having a tough time getting home for the holidays.
At San Francisco International Airport Friday, there were 312 delays and 122 cancellations.
On Friday night, Noel Harris, who lives in San Jose, had been stuck at SFO since 8:30 a.m. She should have been home in Nashville.
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"I'm not waiting in that line again. I'm so done waiting in lines. If it is really 45 minutes from now and my bag's not out here, I think I'm literally going to turn into The Hulk," she told another waiting traveler.
She had expected to be with her family for the first time since the pandemic began.
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"This is all I've been thinking about the last three months 'cause, like I said, it's the first time and I know I'm not the only one in this airport right now but God! I'm pissed."
Harris is one of several passengers at SFO dealing with delays and canceled flights due to snowstorms and freezing temperatures across the country.
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"They started off saying it was weather and then, the second delay, they came on the intercom and said we're actually looking for a pilot and then, when we find a pilot, we have to find a crew so there's nobody scheduled on this plane apparently," she added.
An ice storm shut down Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for hours and rolling power outages are expected from Texas to Tennessee.
Harris said the airline offered her a connecting flight to Chicago that would have got her home late Christmas night.
"Nashville's really cold right now, like, ten degrees but Chicago's like minus-10. Why would I go to Chicago? I'd be stranded out there. I live here, I might as well just go home," she said.
The Cheng family is from Hong Kong. They were planning to spend Christmas in Alaska but, after their connecting flight in Seattle was canceled, they found themselves booking a last-minute hotel in San Francisco. They had to cancel several tours, including one to see the Northern Lights.
"It's OK, we can have fun anywhere. San Francisco is a lovely city, we can find something good to do, right?" said Eddie Chang, who remained in good spirits.
Harris, who works as a bartender, is just trying to get her checked bag returned after five hours of waiting.
"I'm supposed to work New Year's Eve in the bar so I can't go right after Christmas. I'd have to wait until the new year started but, at that point, everyone is going to be gone that I was supposed to see," Harris said. "I've gone through I think every emotion. At this point all I can do is laugh crazily like just be a little insane."
The stormy weather is expected to sweep through most of the country over the weekend but it won't hit the Bay Area.
