Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - With the incoming blizzard set to impact Buffalo and the Western New York region starting Friday, many holiday travelers made their way to Buffalo-Niagara International Airport on Thursday in order to get to their intended destination before conditions turn for the worst.
"It's been a very hairy thing, rushing around and trying to get everything together," said Lorrie York from Grand Island, who is traveling to Charlotte, North Carolina to visit her daughter for the holidays.
From some travelers like York, they were able to luck out with the chance to move up their trips a day sooner than originally expected. York says she was able to get her flight moved up from Friday to Thursday with no extra charge to change it.
Other travelers on Thursday were just hoping all goes well on their travels to be able to return home for the holidays before winter weather likely grinds travel to a halt.
"We're just hoping everything goes fine," said Jordan McGuire, traveling with his wife Barbara to return home to Arkansas. "Our flight's been delayed a few times, so hopefully no more delays, and we can get to our next stop."
While traveling from airport-to-airport during times of inclement winter weather is nothing out of the ordinary for the McGuires, they know that it's never a time to get too comfortable with your travel plans until you happen to back on home ground.
"We're not out of the woods yet. Definitely not out of the woods," Jordan said. "You're never out of the woods whenever there's delays."
In order to get back to Arkansas, the McGuires needed to maneuver around their original plans a bit, changing course from a connecting flight to Chicago and, instead, connecting to Charlotte before returning home.
For York, she says she's usually home when the bad weather hits, and this is her first time attempting to travel with an impending blizzard on the horizon. However, she feels very fortunate to just be at the airport and en route to her destination ahead of the inclement weather.
"I'm going to find a quiet place to wait until my plane comes and get something to eat, and I'll be very happy to see my daughter in a couple hours," York said.
Unfortunately for some travelers, their travel plans have already been affected, and the hope is for them to get to their destination without any further delays.
This includes Gavan and his mom from Niagara, Ontario, Canada. They got to the airport a half an hour before their flight due to a wait to get across the border to the United States, and it was too late to check in. Sadly, they got re-booked for a trip to Tennessee on Friday to visit family, just as the weather is set to get a bit hairy.
"We're gonna leave at 10:52 a.m. We're not too sure how that's gonna look," said a disgruntled Gavan. "Maybe it'll be the same, but hopefully, it will be OK."
The change of plans due to unfortunate circumstances for Gavan and his mom drives up the anxiety levels just a bit, and understandably so with the inclement winter weather on its way.
"It's really frustrating considering the COVID-19 pandemic and all the restrictions that happened with that, for flights and everything. Now it kind of feels like we're moving past that, and we want to take a trip for the first time in a while. And we're having more issues, and potentially weather issues. It's frustrating. Feels like you're on your tippy toes all the time," Gavan said.
In addition, it is the first time Gavan and his mom have traveled in this scenario with an impending blizzard set to impact Western New York come Friday. He is hoping that they are able to get off the ground come the next day, and can get to see their loved ones for Christmas.
"It'll be a good feeling when we finally land and make it to our destination," Gavan said.
