MIAMI – Holiday weekend travelers have found a Memorial Day mess at Miami International Airport.
Hundreds of travelers arrived only to find their flights were delayed or cancelled altogether.
“We were supposed to be on British Airlines flight yesterday at 8:30 and got here, and unfortunately it was cancelled,” said traveler Attila Toth. “Now we’re just trying to figure out how to get to Europe, because there’s nothing available. We called American, we called British Airways, but there were no flights available today. So we’re trying to figure out if we’ll be be able to get on a flight tonight, or worst case tomorrow.”
The weather was partly to blame for numerous cancellations, but also airlines operational issues grounded some flights.
Officials said 240 flights at MIA were cancelled and another 168 were delayed.
One family that spoke to Local 10 News’ Trent Kelly had been trying to fly home to Germany since Sunday.
“It’s a very long delay, it’s like 24 hours now. It’s stressful,” said traveler Ben Arnold.
Their plane has apparently been stuck in Washington D.C.
“At the beginning it’s, you know, you just want to go home for the holidays,” said Arnold. “But you get a hotel for the night, and for now it’s ok. But if it’s getting delayed or cancelled again, it’s going to be very bad.”
Altogether officials said 68 arriving flights at MIA were cancelled on Monday, with another 38 departures scrubbed.
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport fared slightly better with only 29 total cancellations, though 169 flights were delayed.
“When we woke up this morning, we saw that it was a two hour delay,” said FLL traveler Dave Djodesen. “So, doesn’t seem too busy here, not a big deal. Nothing too crazy, just have to anticipate that.”
One of the most impacted airlines includes American Airlines, which cancelled more than 115 flights on Monday, or roughly 3 percent of their total operations.
It comes as AAA estimates more than three million Americans are taking to the skies for the extra-long weekend.
But with updates on some flights still pretty limited, most fliers Local 10 News spoke with were just trying to keep their cool.
“I tell you what really sucks is communication, you just don’t know what’s going on,” said Toth. “So we’ve been kind of for 24 hours just holding on and trying to figure out what the next step is.”