MIAMI – A holiday travel rush is underway across the country, and at South Florida airports, it’s no different.
Local 10 News spoke with passengers at Miami International Airport on Tuesday who were fully aware of the rush when traveling during a busy holiday weekend.
Natalie Mckinney, who just went on a cruise, said she’s from Kansas City, Missouri, where it’s currently snowing and expected to be in the low 30s.
Thousands of passengers took to the skies the day after the Christmas holiday. It’s a day officials at both airports say is one of the busiest of the season and with that, can cause some hiccups.
“(We) went on a cruise and our flight isn’t delayed. We leave at 3:30 we’re fine, but my son on Southwest says he’s delayed,” said McKinney. “I don’t know how he’s gonna get home.”
According to Miami-Dade County’s aviation department, more than 165,000 passengers are coming through Miami International Airport, which currently has 60 total flights that are delayed with just one cancellation as of Tuesday afternoon.
Broward County’s aviation department says that more than 131,000 travelers are expected at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport with 56 of their flights to be delayed and 3 flights expected to be cancelled on Tuesday.
Authorities said some of those delays may be related to the FAA’s traffic management systems, which currently shows delays at both FLL and MIA.
Vanessa Sanders, who is flying out of FLL, shared her travel troubles with Local 10 News after being stuck at the airport since Tuesday morning.
“We’ve been delayed three times and now we’re not leaving until 10 o’clock tonight and we’ve been here since 10 this morning,” she said.
“This sucks. We had our first flight was delayed so we canceled that one and booked a new one, and then our new one was canceled when we arrived at the airport, so now we’re stuck here until tomorrow,” said FLL passenger Tim Lewis.
Airport officials are urging travelers to keep an eye on their flights through a flight tracking app or website. Click here for more information.
Travelers can also click here to receive more tips on travel advice from airport officials and employees.
4 p.m. live report