PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Flight delays and cancelations continue to plague travelers across the country, and Palm Beach International Airport is no exception.
There were nearly 100 delays and more than a dozen cancellations at PBIA on Tuesday. But WPTV talked to many travelers who were at the airport dealing with flight cancelations from over the weekend.
“The table is set waiting for everybody to arrive so we can have Christmas someday," an Air Canada passenger told WPTV, three days after Christmas Day.
“My kids' flight was canceled on Christmas morning. No information provided," she said. "We struggled for days to try to find a flight to get into Florida, so had to split up the kids. I've been on the phone for somewhere around eight hours in the past two days."
RELATED: Travel troubles continue for Southwest Airlines as carrier cancels 2,500 flights Tuesday
Customer service lines were growing at PBIA on Tuesday. Southwest passengers said they got a busy tone when they called the airline after finding out their flight scheduled for Thursday was already canceled.
“This is absurd to find this out two days before hand," a Southwest passenger told WPTV. “And there’s no other flights until Monday. I don’t understand why they can’t answer the phone or help us."
Nationwide there were more than 5,000 cancelations Tuesday alone.
Travel and aviation expert Peter Trabucco said Christmas week was the perfect storm, since weather delays were coupled with an increase in travelers and not enough airlines employees.
"Unfortunately, since the pandemic we've had a shortage of pilots,” Trabucco said. “We've had a shortage of airline attendants, we've had a shortage of aircrafts needing to be maintained."
RELATED: Are airlines required to provide refunds, hotel rooms when flights are canceled?
Passengers told WPTV, at this rate, they just want to get home before 2023.
According to the dashboard, the Department of Transportation requires all airlines to offer refunds when a flight is canceled for any reason.
You can request a refund through the airline’s website.
As for reimbursements for extra expenses, Southwest announced it would honor “reasonable requests” for meals, hotels and other transportation.
