Winter storms cause security back up, flight delays at Fort Lauderdale airport
Travelers to and from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport are seeing some fight delays with winter storm warnings and watches across the country.
As of early Sunday on the holiday weekend, departure traffic heading to LaGuardia Airport in New York reported delays averaging 45 minutes. Departure traffic leaving to Chicago O’Hare International Airport reported delays averaging 1 hour and 27 minutes, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center.
Overall, arrivals and departures were running relatively on time, although wait times were long to check baggage, go through security clearance and some travelers are delayed from their departure destinations.
The FAA reports flight traffic from Fort Lauderdale’s airport (FLL) is experiencing gate hold and taxi delays lasting 15 minutes or less. Flights arriving into Fort Lauderdale were experiencing airborne delays of 15 minutes or less.
Other airports in the U.S. are seeing long delays and flight cancellations. According to Flight Aware, on Sunday there were 2,296 total flight delays within, into, or out of the United States and 834 flights cancellations. Of U.S. carriers, Southwest Airlines had the most delayed flights and United Airlines had the most cancelled flights on Sunday.
Winter Storm Heather is expected to track across the South and eastern U.S. early this week, resulting in a wintry mess of snow and ice that could create dangerous travel conditions in some areas. Forecasters expect the storm to lead to flight delays and cancellations throughout the week. Heather has already brought heavy snow, ice and strong winds to the western U.S.
Sun Sentinel reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com.
