Passengers at PHL still dealing with flight delays, cancellations following July 4 holiday

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- More and more travelers are growing irritated at Philadelphia International Airport.

So far, there have been 80 delays and three cancellations on Thursday, and on Wednesday there were 267 delays.

This comes as problems have left travelers frustrated nationwide during the July 4 holiday weekend.

"Hopefully it'll go smooth. There won't be any problems in Houston," said Ginger Pouliot of Blue Bell, Montgomery County.

Pouliot and her son are heading to New Zealand.

"I did not want to leave before July 4, knowing there would be delays, weather, etc. So we planned to leave a couple days after July 4," she said.

The Hopkins made the same plan, but unfortunately are still having travel trouble.

"We are going away for our 15 year anniversary to Disney and the flight was at 8 a.m. It got delayed to 1 p.m. and then it just got canceled," said Michele Hopkins of West Chester, Chester County. "We're really frustrated right now. We've been planning this trip for a long time. First trip away from the kids."

Frustration is mounting among travelers overall, especially for the thousands across the country who experienced cancellations and delays over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. A total of 572,000 passengers were expected to go in and out of PHL alone.

"Terminals were busy, especially Friday and Saturday," said Heather Redfern of Philadelphia International Airport. "And then when you had the weather issues leading into holiday weekend, it made it even more busy than what we thought it would be."

Fourth of July travel was expected to be 5% busier at PHL than last year. International travel from airports across the country is expected to be up about 20% from 2019.

"When you're traveling, make sure you stay in touch with your airline. Download their app, sign up for email or text alerts," said Katy Nastro of Going.Com.

Airlines have the most up-to-date info on the status of flights, so if there are delays or cancellations, you'll get that information from your airline first.

Problems getting passports also continue to exacerbate travel and, unfortunately, the U.S. State Department says despite increased hiring and overtime hours, processing times are still longer. It's taking 10 to 13 weeks for routine processing of new passports.

The State Department is not expecting to reduce processing times to pre-pandemic levels until the end of the year, which is also when its online renewals system - that has been on pause - is expected to be up and running once again.