The Spring Break travel season has experienced a ROUGH start this year.
Last weekend, multiple delays, including a LOT of delays with Southwest Airlines, hit Orlando International Airport. Well, it’s happening again THIS weekend (March 16th and 17th), and once more, Southwest has the most delayed flights. So here’s a warning if you’re flying this weekend.
We keep an eye on the situation at Orlando International Airport on FlightAware, which gives us a good idea of how many flight delays and cancellations are going on. Earlier yesterday, on March 16th, there were 211 delays out of the Orlando airport, with 133 of those delays belonging to Southwest Airlines. That’s 36% of Southwest flights that fly into and out of Orlando. At the time, two flights had been canceled.
So by today, March 17th, has the situation improved? Well, our most recent check of FlightAware shows 225 flight delays with 80 of those being on Southwest.
So what’s going on? Yesterday, there were severe thunderstorms in Texas, and according to Click2Houston, there was a ground stop issued at Hobby Airport in Houston. Hobby Airport is a hub for Southwest Airlines. This weekend has also brought storms to other parts of the U.S., as well as wintry weather elsewhere. It’s just a bad weekend to travel.
The timing of all this is unfortunate because it has really affected the beginning of one of the busiest travel seasons of the year. A record 7.6 million passengers are expected to go through Orlando International Airport during the Spring Break season. It’s so busy that our airline even recently sent us a warning about the crowds at the airport.
So if you are flying this weekend or during this busy season, be sure to bring your patience and prepare for delays and cancelations. We always like to have a good book handy or download one of our favorite shows and movies from streaming services to make those delays go by a little bit faster. You’ll also want to make sure you have the airline app set to send you notifications so you can stay updated.
Check back with AllEars again soon for more!
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Have you or anyone you know experienced any flight issues this weekend? Let us know in the comments!
We flew out of MCO yesterday and checking bags with Delta was an absolute nightmare! Huge lines and there was a Delta agent literally screaming at people to get their IDs out before getting to the front. Then he was snapping at people for asking *any* questions. We got there 2 hrs before our domestic flight and barely made it on the plane. On the bright side, our trip was amazing thanks to y’all teaching us all the tricks with Genie Plus 🙂