PHL Airport flight delays, cancelations continue amid Tropical Storm Debby
PHILADELPHIA - On Monday afternoon, there was still a sea of luggage visible in Terminal C as people waited in a long line at an American Airlines counter.
"We’ve been checking carousel after carousel but nothing is coming down," said Josephine Obonyo, who says she and her husband dealt with a canceled flight in California and traveled overnight, only to wait hours for their luggage.
"More than a day later and we’re still not home," she said.
Their nightmare travel story is one of many over the past few days due to severe weather and thunderstorms.
"This is just the continuing domino effect from that and now we’re seeing Hurricane Debby hitting Florida which is just adding to what was already a messy situation," said Heather Redfern, Public Affairs Manager at PHL. "It’s the summer, flights are full, and you’re trying to squeeze people onto flights, so it’s been a very difficult few days here."
Ebony Jones says she had two flights canceled to get home to Fort Lauderdale with her family. She was told the earliest they could fit on a flight was on Thursday.
Now they are choosing to drive—but could not find a rental car available for that trip in Philadelphia.
Hundreds of PHL flights cancelled, delayed due to severe weather
Another day of travel nightmares as hundreds of travelers are bound to be stranded in Philadelphia, instead of heading home at the weekend.
"They have to take an Uber 30 minutes to Delaware, and then they’re going to drive back. However, they’re coming back, but now we don’t have our bags," said Jones.
Flights from Florida to Philadelphia aren’t much better.
FOX 29’s Jason Martinez says his family’s flight was canceled Monday morning in Orlando, and the next flight with open seats is also not available until Thursday.
He’s now making the 8-hour drive to Atlanta to take a flight back to Philadelphia first thing on Tuesday morning.
"I gotta get home I can’t just sit here for four days, I don’t know who has that kind of time, and then you gotta buy hotels for 3-4 nights and that’s not cheap," he said. "It’s a disaster, a total disaster."
A statement from American Airlines on Sunday said in part, customers whose travel plans are affected can rebook without change fees.
However, with no open seats on some flights for days—travelers say they are finding other means to get home.
Redfern says things may not get back to "normal" until later this week, weather permitting.
"It’s really difficult and so many people were impacted over just a few days, it’s going to take some time and take some patience," said Redfern.