FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Passengers expressed their frustration Friday morning at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport as several flights were canceled overnight.
“I’ve been sitting at the airport since 2 o’clock,” Lisa Pilot said. “I’ve been sitting here for five hours and it’s been a horrific experience to say the least.”
Pilot was supposed to be on a 9 p.m. Thursday flight from Fort Lauderdale to Chicago.
Another passenger told Local 10 News that their pilot was a no-show.
“Waiting to get on our flight and, unfortunately, they canceled the flight. They canceled it. As a matter of fact, they let us get on the plane after waiting eight hours,” Pilot said.
Pilot was forced to wait in line with many other frustrated passengers to try to re-book a new flight.
“They allowed us to board the plane, and then made us get off,” she said.
After hours of waiting in line, most of the passengers headed to Chicago were booked onto another 9 p.m. flight leaving Friday, as it’s the only JetBlue flight to that location from Fort Lauderdale for the day.
According to a JetBlue spokesman, dangerous thunderstorms in South Florida and the Northeast Thursday night into Friday morning led to the cancelations.
“Whenever these weather events take place they can also create residual impacts as we work to reposition aircraft and crews,” the spokesman said in an email to Local 10 News. “We apologize for the inconvenience these events cause, and we will continue to work to assist customers by placing them on later flights.”