Travel woes worsen for passengers stranded at NYC-area airports due to cancelled flights
Janice Yu has the latest on the growing number of flights that were already canceled as of early Wednesday morning.
EAST ELMHURST, Queens (WABC) -- Hundreds of flights have already been cancelled as of early Wednesday morning, leaving thousands of travelers stranded and frustrated at local airports.
Newark Airport appeared a bit calmer Wednesday, but people are still desperate to get on any flight to their destinations.
Here is a look at the total inbound and outbound cancellations in the last few days:
MONDAY
1,258 cancellations
TUESDAY
1,264 cancellations
WEDNESDAY
Over 340 cancellations as of 5 a.m., which breaks down to 66 flights canceled at Newark Airport, 66 canceled at LaGuardia, and 32 canceled at JFK.
TRACK YOUR FLIGHT HERE.
The travel torture started over the weekend when a combination of summer storms and a fire in an air traffic control facility started the domino effect of delays.
More than 3,500 flights were canceled between Sunday and Monday combined. By late Tuesday afternoon, more than 1,600 flights were canceled.
"I have been here for a day and a half trying to get back to Denver. I tried five different flights through United and they've all been canceled. I'm just trying to get another airline. They told me to wait in the customer service line to get a hotel voucher, but the line is a 12-hour wait," Jackie Billotte said at Newark Airport.
The finger pointing has begun, as travelers are eager to know who is responsible for this mess and what exactly went wrong.
"There has to be a better way and we're trying to figure out what is truly the issue. Is it weather or is just a lack of the staff and the air traffic controllers? We're reading how thousands of flights are being canceled because of one or the other," passenger Laura Taylor said.
United Airlines has been hit the hardest and Newark is a major hub.
The airline's CEO is blaming the FAA's decision to cancel thousand of flights due to weather that the agency has historically been able to manage. They are also blaming a lack of air traffic controllers.
In response, the FAA says it will work with anyone who is willing to help them solve the problems.
Newscopter 7's John DelGiorno broke down Tuesday's travel woes
The misery multiplied in LaGuardia's gleaming new Terminal B on Tuesday night, as a crush of travelers tried to reason with ticket agents.
"It's not okay because people have planned vacations for a long time," traveler Laura Taylor said. "It's been along couple days."
Those who were lucky enough to get a seat didn't get that far either with many planes stuck on the tarmac waiting for takeoff clearance.
The biggest question Tuesday was whether the system can get back to normal by Friday. That would be the Friday before July4, when the TSA expects to set another record for the number of people trying to fly.
"In addition to the bad weather problems, we're in the peak of the vacation season and we're approaching July 4, so all these flights are booked close to or are completely full, so there's very little slack in terms of empty seats to accommodate people," said Aviation Analyst Henry Harteveldt.
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Source: WABC-TV
