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Holiday travel: Making it home for the holidays a tough task
Christmas Day has now come and gone, but plenty of people are still trying to make it to their holiday destination. Unfortunately, like the song says, 'I’ll be home for Christmas if only in my dreams' became reality for a lot of travelers who have tried, some for days, to catch a flight to be with loved ones. At Bush Intercontinental Airport, Monday alone, there were more than 266 delays and greater than 68 flight cancelations, so far. While at Hobby Airport, at 4:00 pm, 216 flights had been canceled for the day with 59 delays.
Houston - Christmas Day has now come and gone, but plenty of people are still trying to make it to their holiday destination.
Unfortunately, like the song says, 'I’ll be home for Christmas if only in my dreams' became reality for a lot of travelers who have tried, some for days, to catch a flight to be with loved ones. At Bush Intercontinental Airport, Monday alone, there were more than 266 delays and greater than 68 flight cancelations, so far. While at Hobby Airport, at 4:00 pm, 216 flights had been canceled for the day with 59 delays.
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For thousands of airline passengers, it was supposed to be an unforgettable Christmas for memories made differently.
"I was without clothes for two days in Vegas and had to sleep in the airport," says Shevette Liston who had four flights canceled before making it to Houston the day after Christmas. "So I didn’t get to spend Christmas with my family or with my granddaughter".
Why? Well, when you take a look at the flight board at Bush Intercontinental ‘canceled’ is peppered throughout and every time you see the word there are hundreds of people you may not see who are affected.
"They canceled our flight," says Edward Morales who’s trying to get to Pittsburgh.
"30 minutes after the pilot came and entered the flight they said oh the flight is canceled," explains Eynar Kufeld who was supposed to spend Christmas in Nicaragua.
"Our flight to Denver got canceled, so we’re actually going to drive to Denver and go skiing. (How long is the drive?) 16 and half hours," says Houstonian Sean Patterson.
Nearly 3,000 US flights canceled on day after Christmas
Apparently old man winter is partly the problem, but passengers say they’re also being told there aren’t enough workers at several airports across the country. "They said low staff is why the flight was canceled," says Regina Morales.
"They told us there was no flight attendant for the last flight," explains Liston.
Plenty of persistent passengers changed airlines and airports to catch a flight. "We went to Hobby first, and then we transferred here (to Bush). We’ve been out at the airport since two o’clock this morning," Morales adds.
In addition to lots of waiting and long lines there’s lost luggage with baggage turn styles spinning but no bags falling. Kufeld’s suitcases are now in Nicaragua without him. "It's turned out they reinstated the flight without telling us, and they took our luggage with them".
Some have managed to maneuver it all, with a smile. "Yeah there’s nothing else I can do about it. Hopefully my bag is here. That’s when I’m going to start crying," laughs Liston.
If you have a flight to catch, airlines are recommending you double-check the status of the flight before heading to the airport.