NORFOLK, Va (WAVY) — Airline cancellations are soaring ahead of the Independence Day holiday weekend. AAA predicts record-breaking travel starting tomorrow. Norfolk International Airport expect 9,300 passengers to depart Thursday, about 2,000 more than most days.
On Wednesday, eight departures were delayed or canceled out of Norfolk, primarily to New York, New Jersey, Chicago and Denver.
“They canceled our flight last night at around 11,” Dave Smith told WAVY.
Unable to reach the airline by phone, the frustrated passenger from Colorado came to the Norfolk airport for answers. “And they said the earliest we could fly out was July 2.”
Grace Akullo, a graduate student visiting Old Dominion University for a seminar, was supposed to return home to Uganda two days ago.
“I was supposed to have flown Monday, but because of some weather – whatever, I don’t understand because I am not from here – I have been held back and I get to return tonight,” she told WAVY.
Most cancelations and delays are due to weather and a shortage of air traffic controllers, according to airport administrators.
“So, that’s an issue that is not going to be solved overnight,” said Charles Braden, Norfolk International Airport’s director of market development.
It’s a big problem he said, in New York and New Jersey.
“The flights just kept getting delayed,” traveler Felton Hawkins said. “I wouldn’t have gotten to Newark until like 12 and then I would have missed the flight to Phoenix.”
Hawkins, a pastor from Newport News, had his prayers answered when he got rebooked on another airline. He worries, however, about his return trip.
AAA predicts record breaking travel over the Independence Day weekend.
“If you’re traveling come with an open mind,” Braden said, “allow yourself plenty of time check with your airline on the status of that flight.”
Norfolk International is expecting 9,300 passengers to depart Thursday, about 2,000 more than a typical day.
“I’m just praying that everything will work out,” Hawkins said, “and I’ll be able to get back home.”
