NORFOLK, Va. — The holiday season is full of lots of hustle and bustle, especially in airports, but cancelations are keeping passengers grounded and it's not just because of the weather.
For traveling nurse Jessica Doney, delays and cancellations aren’t exactly a once-in-a-while occurrence. They’re pretty frequent, and she said she's been delayed about four to fivr times in the past six months. Her family depends on her making the plane.
"For me, I’m a single mother," she said. "That’s my income. I got to do what I have to do."
Doney said delays have kept her from clocking in.
"I’ve lost work. I haven’t gotten back to Virginia to perform my shifts," she said. I was stuck in an airport...same thing, and didn’t get back in time."
Airlines like Delta have confirmed that it’s more than just bad weather. In an email apology from the airline, Delta says in part, "A variety of factors are impacting our operations-including challenges with air traffic control, weather in some areas of the Delta system and crew availability.
In major airports like Orlando, it has to do with having the fuel to fly. Over the weekend, the airport tweeted the following statement:
"Weather issues along the Gulf Coast had prevented reserve supply delivery of jet fuel at MCO,"
While Doney said it’s understandable why these are causes to cancel or delay, it still can be costly for passengers between food and gas and lodging or another flight
"I don’t want to wait until ten o’clock to get down to where I have to go to work so I end up having to pay even more money to a different airline," explains Doney.
According to FlightAware.com, Norfolk International airport experienced 21 flight delays on Monday, and on Tuesday there were at least ten.
For people looking to travel this holiday season, Doney is offering a little advice like purchasing travel insurance and seeing if your airline is looking to make it right if certain circumstances mess with your flight such as financial compensation or miles for your next trip.
