MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A foggy Monday morning at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport has caused diversions and delays.
The flight board at FLL showed at least 25 flights impacted because of visibility. Some of those flights were landing in Orlando, Fort Myers or other Florida airports until the weather cleared up.
Mother Nature seemingly didn’t want to cooperate as one of the years busiest weeks of travel of the year begins.
Miami International Airport is expecting close to 2 million passengers to come through from now until the end of the month.
“We are just getting started flying for the holidays,” said Ianta Summers, who was traveling through MIA. “We have other places to go too.”
Airports are trying to prepare passengers for the busy terminals, saying parking is available but limited and asking travelers to leave extra time for parking and getting to their gate.
In some ways, it’s a return to a sense of normalcy after travel was cut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gabe Zeinoun and his family flew to Miami from Boston for a get-together and are now heading back home in the midst of the holiday rush.
“There’s a lot of people. It’s pretty crazy,” he said. “There is a big rush I guess because COVID this year being more lax. Everyone is out traveling, it does seem like that.”
As travel picks up, health officials are urging everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated and get booster shots.
“The hope is that it will reduce those breakthrough cases, reduce hospitalizations, reduce deaths, reduce transmission and severe illness,” said Dr. Jen Ashton, ABC News chief medical correspondent.
Monday also marked the deadline for Transportation Security Administration workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
TSA says 93% of employees are in compliance and that the mandate will not impact holiday travel.