Flight Delays, Cancellations Persist At Dallas Airports Due To COVID-19 And Winter Weather
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Despite the start of a new week, some people are still trying to make it home after numerous flight cancellations and delays over the weekend.
It's left several people stuck in North Texas.
The people who are flying said there's a lot of stress when it comes to traveling, especially during this time of year, but everyone has the same goal: to get back home.
"All of our flights got changed, I had to rebook the flight twice just to get them home today," said Nathan Lighthart.
For four days, Lighthart said he has been trying to find a way home for his kids who were in town visiting.
"I think the hardest part for me is trying to get someone to answer a phone," Lighthart said. "Some of the delays were upwards to 20 hours and still haven't heard back from them."
Flight delays and cancellations caused by COVID-19 and winter weather continue into Monday, learning some passengers upset.
"It's a little frustrating but at the same time I get to spend a little more time with the kids," Lighthart said.
"I'm trying not to cry because I'm so frustrated trying to get home to my family," said Nancy Garcia, who is trying to get to El Paso. "I work tomorrow."
She said she found out her flight was cancelled on her way to the airport and now she's one of the many trying to find another way to travel.
"Find another way home," Garcia said. "We tried to rent a car, we can't find anything available."
According to Flight Aware, Dallas Love Field Airport has 143 delays and 45 cancellations Monday and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has 343 delays and 112 cancellations.
The numbers continued to rise throughout the night.
Southwest Airlines sent CBS 11 a statement saying:
"As a result of the current winter storm that has moved across the country, Southwest has cancelled more than 600 flights of the more than 3,600 flights scheduled for Monday across our network. We appreciate the patience and support from our Customers as the Southwest Team works diligently and safely to get Customers to their destinations as soon as possible. As always, we encourage Customers to check their flights status at southwest.com."
CBS 11 also talked with people who were headed to areas with heavy snow.
"The flight has been delayed about an hour but they seem to be keeping us updated pretty regularly," said Lisa Littfield who is trying to get to Baltimore. "I have reports from people at home telling me how things are going to be and the southwest app was great so we just kept checking every thirty minutes."
"I think we've had one cancellation and we're back an hour," said traveler Thomas Queens.
People who had minor delays said it's expected.
"We had already planned if we would get cancelled," Queens said. "So we planned, that's why I took a week off."
As delays and cancellations continue, airport officials are reminding everyone to continue to check with their airline for the latest updates on their flights.
American Airlines also sent CBS 11 a statement saying:
"The winter storm in Washington, D.C. is having an impact on our operations, accounting for a significant number of cancellations. It's affecting both flights in and out of Washington, D.C., and other flight sequences for our crews. The number of COVID-related sick calls is consistent with what we have seen over the past few days. The vast majority of impacted flights were precanceled yesterday so we could proactively notify and accommodate our customers and avoid last-minute disruptions at the airport. Additionally, we issued a travel notice to allow all customers whose travel plans are impacted by the Washington, D.C. storm to rebook without change fees. We apologize to our customers whose travel plans have been affected and want to thank our team who have worked tirelessly to help us care for our customers."
