PBIA travelers experience long delays this week amid heavy air traffic to South Florida
WEST PALM BEACH — Travelers using Palm Beach International Airport have consistently dealt with flight delays of two hours or more this week because of heavy air traffic volume, the Federal Aviation Administration reported.
The FAA put a ground delay in place at PBIA for the third consecutive day Thursday, Dec. 28, in an attempt to limit air traffic in South Florida. As a result, flights travelers headed to and from the airport were experiencing an average delay of 70 minutes.
Thursday's ground delay at PBIA was expected to last through the early evening, according to an alert on the FAA's website. More than 80 arriving and departing flights at PBIA were experiencing delays Thursday afternoon, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.
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"We advise everyone to check with their airline before coming to the airport," PBIA spokesperson Joe Harrington said in an email Wednesday to The Palm Beach Post.
"They may also want to download their airline’s app and sign up for any alerts offered. Passenger volumes are also significant this time of year so everyone should allow themselves plenty of time to park and go through security."
Federal officials put a similar delay in place Tuesday, Dec. 26, that affected multiple airports in Florida as passengers began their post Christmas holiday travel. Travelers at PBIA reported delays that day of four hours or more. The FAA expected Tuesday to be the third busiest day for Christmas-related air travel with more than 41,000 flights scheduled nationally.
More than 100 flights to and from PBIA were affected by delays Wednesday, with four flights being canceled. The FAA did not issue an alert for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, but there were still significant delays reported there Wednesday with more than 300 flights into and out of the airport being delayed, and seven outbound and inbound flights being canceled.
The FAA reported on its website that southbound flights approaching a constrained area near Jacksonville would be delayed on average for 88 minutes Wednesday, or rerouted due to airspace volume. Meanwhile, southeast flights crossing the Gulf of Mexico were delayed on average for six minutes, according to the FAA.
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The delays and cancellations follow a report that called Florida airports, including PBIA, among the least reliable in the nation for on-time takeoffs and landings.
The report issued by the private aviation booking platform Jettly found that about 30% of PBIA's 217,000 flights from January through August 2023 experienced some sort of issue. The report noted that several problems beyond an airport's control, such as nationwide shortages of pilots, mechanics and air traffic controllers, can affect flight delays and cancellations.
A winter storm that brought blizzard conditions across the Midwest this week is forecast to bring wintry conditions to portions of the southern United States, potentially causing more disruptions ahead of the weekend, according to Accuweather.com
"As a disturbance drops into the storm and as the air turns colder from Friday night to Saturday, snow showers will become more frequent over the southern Appalachians," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.
"This is when parts of northern Georgia, eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, eastern Kentucky, West Virginia and northern and western Virginia stand the best chance of a small accumulation."
Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Long delays at PBIA this week amid heavy air traffic to South Florida
