ORLANDO, Fla. – Weather across the country is causing delays and cancellations at Orlando International Airport, leaving many travelers scrambling to find alternate routes home.
At first glance, on Monday, operations at the airport appeared typical. But a look at the departure boards revealed a different story — rows of red flight statuses signaling delays and cancellations.
Several travelers said they were left with few answers as airlines reshuffled schedules throughout the day.
One couple visiting the theme parks said they had already been rebooked multiple times while trying to leave Orlando.
“First Southwest, then JetBlue, now back to Southwest.”
When asked what the airline told them after the initial cancellation, the traveler responded:
“They just said, best of luck. But they gave us credit. But we didn’t really want [that].”
The couple said they are now attempting a third flight later Monday night.
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“Hope for the best,” one traveler said. “I’m nervous.”
Other travelers described a similar cycle of delays turning into cancellations.
One couple said they were originally scheduled to fly out Monday afternoon but watched their flight change several times before it was ultimately canceled.
“We were scheduled on Frontier this morning to fly out today at two,” one traveler said. “We went through three delays, and then it was finally canceled. And so I was able to book a flight with United. They delayed us once and then canceled us.”
After waiting in line for hours, they eventually secured another route.
“Anyway, I was able to book on Southwest through Birmingham,” the traveler said. “We’re trying to get to Denver. So far it’s still showing on time. That goes out ten tonight with a seven-hour layover in Birmingham. So we’re supposed to get in tomorrow in Denver at like 7:30.”
Some passengers said they were unable to secure another flight for days.
“They can’t get us on anything today,” one traveler said. “Tomorrow. And the best they can do is Wednesday night.”
When asked if they had any backup plans, the traveler responded simply:
“No.”
With flights unavailable, some groups are turning to other forms of transportation. A youth baseball team said they only learned their flight had been canceled after arriving at the airport.
“Now the plan is to take a charter bus all the way back to Pennsylvania,” one traveler said, adding the trip could take about 20 hours.
Others tried to rent cars but ran into limited availability.
“We returned to our car yesterday, and now I tried to get another one through Avis,” one traveler said. “They had no cars left, so now we got one through Hertz, I think.”
Despite the disruptions — including a ground stop at Orlando International Airport Sunday night due to thunderstorms — many travelers appeared to remain patient.
“We decided before we even got here today that we’re just going to totally be chill,” one traveler said. “No matter what we thought, no matter how we behaved, it wasn’t going to change the situation.”
According to flight tracking site FlightAware, dozens of flights in and out of Orlando had been delayed or canceled on Monday as weather continued to impact air travel across the country.