PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — The winter storm that swept across the country made its way to our area on Friday and is causing problems for some travelers trying to leave Philadelphia International Airport.
As AAA points out, while you may be flying somewhere sunny, your plane may be coming from a snowy country — and that will eventually affect you.
Across the country, flights were being canceled left and right due to increased holiday travel.
“We’re flying to Atlanta, so hopefully we’ll be able to get out of here before the snow hits,” said Branton Stone of Wrightstown, New Jersey.
We met a group that took a train from LaGuardia to Philadelphia International after their flight was canceled.
“We got up at 4 o’clock, took the train to Philadelphia, and Delta was able to get us on a flight home,” said Andrew Miller of Panama City, Florida. “So we’ll be able to spend Christmas at home together.”
According to FlightAware, as of 8 p.m., 5,380 flights were canceled on Friday, breaking the record for most cancellations in a single day this year.
Dante Dibiase was originally booked on a flight from Wyoming to Philadelphia on Thursday morning.
After numerous cancellations and delays, 34 hours later he just arrives in Philadelphia. His final destination is still a two-hour train ride to Harrisburg.
“It’s been an adventure, you know, sleeping on airport terminal floors is not the most exciting thing,” he said.
All of this, AAA says, is travel back to pre-pandemic levels.
“What makes it different in terms of volume is that we have two three-day weekends back-to-back,” said AAA’s Jana Tidwell. “A lot of people take time off in between, so it gives them a good amount of time to maybe take a trip, maybe a few trips, visit family and friends and get away between the Christmas and New Year holidays.”
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