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Travelers impacted by flight cancellations of more than 3,500 U.S. flights

"Part of it is because of the weather, pilot shortages and spring break so it's like a perfect storm of all three."
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Posted at 6:08 PM, Apr 04, 2022
and last updated 2022-04-04 18:08:05-04

CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (WKBW) — Airlines canceled more than 3,500 flights over the past couple of days, with thousands more delayed.

The carriers cited terrible weather in Florida and other technical issues.

According to "Flight Aware," JetBlue, Southwest, Frontier, Spirit, and American airlines have been most affected.

This amount of cancellations arrived as air travel has rebounded from the pandemic with strong demand for spring-break flights.

"People from back home are telling me on the news they say they've canceled 50 flights in Fort Lauderdale and Miami," says Bruce Campbell, a traveler. "Part of it is because of the weather, pilot shortages and spring break so it's like a perfect storm of all three."

Campbell says he booked his tickets with JetBlue, but the airline has canceled his flight to go back home.

He says he doesn't feel JetBlue has done enough to help accommodate his situation.

"Well our credit cards are on hold because we rented a car and hotel rooms and now they're telling us there's only one flight today and it's at 8 tonight and there's a layover and we actually are not going to go back until tomorrow midnight," he says.

Travel director Brian Murray of AAA Western Central New York says there are ways people can protect their travel plans.

"You really want to ensure the airline has your information," Murray says. "Download the airline app on your smartphone, which gives you up-to-date information as well."

Murray says if all else fails, going to Canada can be an option.

"You don't need a passport to travel domestically. However, I recommend that travelers carry their passports with them because Toronto is a great alternative if flights are canceled," he says.

Meanwhile, Bruce Campbell hopes he'll get home soon.

"LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark, there's like five flights, and it's a six-hour ride, so we have to find out pretty quickly what we're doing," Campbell says. "If that's the route we're going to do, if that's the route we're going to do, then we have to start driving."

Murray suggests that travel insurance would be an option to protect your trip from cancellations.

Click the links below to see what you can do in the future to avoid losing your money from cancellations:

AAA
Travel insurance