PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Dozens of flight delays and cancellations over the weekend are spilling into another day and disrupting travelers’ plans at Philadelphia International Airport.
There were about 60 delays and 75 cancellations as of 8:30 a.m. Monday, and those numbers are likely to creep up as the morning progresses. On Sunday, PHL Airport had more than 350 delays and about 190 canceled flights, mostly due to bad weather.
The Philadelphia region had its share of thunderstorms over the weekend, but there is greater concern about Hurricane Debby, which began wreaking havoc on Florida Monday morning. It made landfall on the Gulf Coast as a Category 1 storm and is projected to move north. Potentially record-setting rain could cause severe flooding in Florida, South Carolina and Georgia.
“It’s a snowball effect that’s impacting PHL, that’s been building over the weekend and still spilling over into today,” said Philadelphia International spokesperson Heather Redfern. “There is spillover. We had a couple days of really bad weather, storms up and down the East Coast. And now, there’s a hurricane in the southeastern United States.”
Redfern said cancellations have been more trying for some folks than others.
“There are some flights that don’t fly every day, so there’s been a situation where people can’t get out for a couple days,” she said. “A lot of the delays and cancellations that we have are actually flights headed to PHL. So it’s not even flights originating here. It’s flights trying to get here.”
Additionally, this last weekend was another busy one for air travel. Redfern said the airport is set to be at or above its 2019 record-setting travel volume for the summer.
At PHL, TSA agents have been progressing swiftly through a decent-sized traveler volume. Passengers should still check with their airlines ahead of time, especially if they are flying to the Southeast.
“Download your airline’s app. Sign up for their email or text alerts,” Redfern advised. “That’s where you’re gonna get the information you need.”
Delays and cancellations aren’t exclusive to the Southeast, so keep an eye on departure times throughout the day, as statuses are updated periodically.