PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — As the United States attacked Venezuela early Saturday morning and captured its leader, it brought air travel in the Caribbean to a standstill, stranding many returning home from trips during the holiday stretch, including one Philly traveler.
Noah Kilshaw was set to be on a 2:30 p.m. flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, on his way back home to Philly, when his mom knocked on the door of his Airbnb.
“Around 8-8:30, and she said, ‘Hey, our flight’s been canceled. We’ve kidnapped Maduro, so all airspace around the Caribbean has been completely shut off,’” he recalled.
The military action happened just after midnight Saturday. U.S. forces reached Nicolás Maduro’s compound at 1:01 a.m. and were back over water headed away at 3:29 a.m. Both Maduro and his wife were transported via a U.S. warship to New York, where they were to face criminal charges.
Since then, Kilshaw said he has received conflicting information online about when he will be able to return to Philadelphia.
“It could be anywhere from Tuesday to 24 hours from now,” he said. “We’ve been glued to our phones, glued to the television just waiting for new information as it arrives, and hopefully that will be relatively soon.”
A spokesperson for Philadelphia International Airport said there have been a number of cancellations to and from destinations in the Caribbean, including San Juan, Cancun, but not all flights have been canceled. They suggested passengers with flights to or from the affected airspace should check with their airlines for updates.
“It’s just kind of caused an air of tension and uncertainty because not only do we not know when we’re going back, but in terms of what the flights are going to look like after being backed up a day or two,” he said.
As of 4 p.m. on Saturday, more than 30 flights had been canceled at Philadelphia Airport, most to or from the Caribbean, according to FlightAware.
Kilshaw said things have been quite tense where he is.
“There’s a lot more of an increased police presence, like there’s a lot of police boats patrolling the shores now, may have seen some larger boats offshore," Kilshaw said. "There’s definitely a tightened air of tension on the island, that’s for sure, and you can definitely tell that people are very stressed and confused and not really certain what’s gonna happen next.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.