Flyers frustrated trying to get home through Philadelphia airport amid weather delays

Katie Katro Image
Monday, August 19, 2024
Flyers frustrated trying to get home through Philadelphia airport amid weather delays
Flyers frustrated trying to get home through Philadelphia airport amid weather delays

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Frustrations are growing at Philadelphia International Airport after Sunday night's storms left travelers stuck.

Many people are upset they are missing work, and they aren't sure when they're going to get home.

"We're not from here," said McKinley McBride, from Houston, Texas. "We're just in transfer. We're moving through trying to get home."

Many had to sleep on the floor at PHL as they were stuck with a delayed or canceled flight and nowhere to go.

"We tried to get a hotel last night. Every hotel here was completely booked up because the line was literally from that door all the way back up. It was just chaos," said McBride.

Action News also met Max Mastine, who says he won't be able to catch a flight until Tuesday. Until then, he says he'll have to pay for a hotel out of pocket, as he awaits to get home to Salt Lake City, Utah.

"They said the next flight won't be till Tuesday, so I got to miss another day of work," Mastine said.

Another resident from Salt Lake City says her family has been stuck as well.

"We've been here at the airport since 3 p.m. and nobody has offered to give us a hotel room. We've got three children here. We're going on 40 hours of trying to fly out of here," explained Stacey Pettingill.

Passengers are fed up, waiting in long lines with no answers. Some say they aren't sure when they're going to get home.

While some people are within driving distance of their destinations, car rental places have been closed at the hours they were looking to rent a car.

"We flew back from Las Vegas. This is our layover spot and we got in at about 6 p.m. Canceled, canceled, canceled -- first thing, she is a diabetic and her medicine is in a checked bag," said Nick Lippa, of Buffalo, NY.

Flyers are simply frustrated.

"Since yesterday, they put us in a hotel, but then the hotel they sent us to had no rooms after a $100 Uber ride," said Stacie Pettingill, also from Salt Lake City.

Another major issue travelers have been faced with is missing luggage.

"Our flight got canceled last night in Dallas so we had to stay in the airport because they didn't give us a hotel," noted Jess Casterline from Malvern, Pa.

After nearly a day of traveling from Oregon and sleeping in an airport, Casterline says she's happy to be home, but her luggage isn't with her.

"We got rescheduled for the 5:30 flight this morning. We don't know if they were on that flight or where they are," Casterline said about her suitcases.

No one may be more frustrated than Aaron Boggs from Collegeville, who has been waiting for American Airlines to find his luggage after his flight to London was canceled a week ago.

"It's frustration, anger. It's sadness," said Boggs.

The trip was meant to be a honeymoon for him and his new wife to see Taylor Swift in concert. They never made it, and now he says they're out $2,500.

And with a new barrage of delays, he's unsure when or if his luggage will be found.

"It's horrible because there's nothing I can do about it. You feel powerless over these major airlines because they have all the control," Boggs noted.

Action News reached out to American Airlines about Boggs' belongings, but we have not yet heard back.

Many people are just trying to pack their patience as they wait to hear when they will reach their destination.

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