JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Southwest Airlines canceled all 18 of its flights out of the Jacksonville International Airport on Tuesday.
One Delta flight has also been delayed, and experts expect more delays and cancellations throughout the day.
News4Jax spoke to Lisa Nommensen whose flight from Jacksonville to Detroit was among the dozens of Southwest flights canceled Tuesday morning.
She says she had to pay hundreds of dollars to book a new flight with a different airline to get there at the same time.
“The part that’s really unsettling is we didn’t start getting alerts until this morning I happened to just check last night because I wanted to make sure I checked in that’s when I found out,” Nommensen said. “I was rushing to book other flights I’m going on Delta right now and having to spend $700 on a flight when I was using points going to see my family.”
News4Jax spoke to a family of three who’s at JAX Tuesday morning taking an American Airlines flight to Colorado with a layover in Dallas.
“I mean we have family in Texas. I mean worse comes to worst we’ll drive to the mountains we will get there.”
Wait times to rebook flights on Tuesday morning are more than two hours.
If you can’t get through to your airline’s customer service line, experts recommend contacting the international service number.
You’ll be connected to a representative in an area with less demand.
How to deal with flight disruptions, according to AAA:
• Check in early online.
• Monitor your flight status using your air carrier’s mobile app.
• Arrive 2-3 hours before scheduled departure.
• Pack medications and an extra set of clothes in your carry-on bag, just in case your flight is delayed or canceled.
Why are airlines dealing with delays and cancellations?
Airlines are playing catchup after a massive winter storm buried several major cities under inches of snow.
While it didn’t snow here, the ripple effect at is felt in Jacksonville.
Long lines were wrapped around the Southwest kiosk Monday night as people try to get answers about flight cancellations.
A lot of travelers have been passing through the Jacksonville International Airport over the holiday season to see friends and family, but for some, flight problems continued to alter plans.
The Monday after Christmas was one of the busiest travel days of the year. Tariq Caldwell’s flight to Washington D.C. was delayed for two hours, which gave him more time to spend with his mom.
“I’m kind of stuck here. I called my mom to come back to get me and spend some more time with her. She’s a little excited about it,” Caldwell said.
According to FlightAware, more than 3,500 flights were canceled nationwide with about 5,400 flights delayed Monday.
For Dan Kelly, a weekend of flight delays kept him from spending Christmas with his daughter, her husband and their son, who live in California.
“Went to San Francisco International Airport for a 12:30 a.m. flight, the airline finally canceled it at 4 in the morning, so they had to go home. Last night they flew overnight to Dulles airport in Washington. Hopefully, they’ll be here in a few minutes with their 1-year-old baby,” Kelly told News4JAX.
Despite the troubled travels, it was worth the wait.
Cyndi Kelly, Dan Kelly’s daughter, was relieved to have finally made it to Jacksonville.
“It was shenanigans, to put it mildly,” Cyndi Kelly said. “We’re really tired. We’re glad we’re finally here.”
After a cancelation, a red-eye flight and a delay, it’s finally time for baby Daniel’s -- named after his grandfather -- first Christmas with his extended family.
As the day transitioned to night, many still found themselves waiting due to delays.
Amy JenneJohn was trying to get back to Syracuse, New York, and Sharon Delecerda was trying to get back home to New Orleans, Louisiana.
“I have a two-hour delay here, but I still have a connection to make at JFK, which I’m going to miss,” JenneJohn said.
Delecerda said her flight out was delayed twice.
“Very (frustrating) because I need to be at work by 9 a.m. tomorrow,” Delecerda said.
Susan Todd said she had to go south to catch her next flight.
“We have to Uber to Orlando,” Todd said. “We can’t even get a rental car, so we must go to Orlando and fly out on a different airline and flights are double the price because it’s the last minute.”
Laura Foy said she has been trying to get her mother on a Southwest Airlines flight back to Oklahoma since Friday.
“She had a flight to go home Friday. They canceled that flight but did not notify us and we drove all the way to the airport. We went inside and they said she could not get out until Christmas Day,” Foy said. “She was upset and they said, ‘We got you on a flight Saturday morning.’ So, we got up at 3 in the morning, loaded up the car, and decided to check even though she got no notification, and that flight was canceled. They just rebooked her for today, and five minutes before we left for the airport, they canceled this flight altogether.”