Travel woes continued for thousands of flyers across the country

Rochester, New York — More than 3,000 flights were canceled, with thousands delayed.

The Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport is feeling the impact as well.

Almost 10 arrival flights had been canceled, along with 6 departures as of Monday afternoon.

According to airport authorities say it’s a combination of COVID-19 and the weather.

“We have started to see some cancellations among all of our airlines due to COVID, but particularly in the last couple days, we’ve seen that rise a little bit with the weather and the storm coming through the northeast part of the United States, which is having a big impact on our travelers here in Rochester today,” said Andy Moore, the Airport Director at Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport.

Mackenzie Coyne was in Canadaguia for the holidays, but she’s trying to get back to Wilmington, North Carolina with her boyfriend. Her flight out of Rochester Monday morning was canceled, so she hopped on her boyfriend’s afternoon flight. That was canceled too.

“We both have to get back to work. Our school is starting for us. We just planned on being able to go home today and I had to call into work and everything, so now we just don’t know what to do,” Coyne said.

For Cynthia Gears, this was her first time traveling on a plane since before the pandemic. She was waiting Monday to get back to Washington D.C., where she works.

“It’s so strange because I’m a world traveler. But it’s like it’s a new world, right? So yeah, I was actually nervous about flying from Baltimore to Rochester for the holidays, but it was very smooth. Everything went very well,” she said.

According to Moore, if you are worried about an upcoming flight, the best thing you can do is stay in touch with your airline and follow what is happening at the destination you’re traveling to.

“Keep tabs of where your aircraft is and what’s going on with your airline. If you can get text messaging, or download the airline app and get emails through that airline, that’s a great way to communicate and get information as quickly as you can. But ultimately, just keep in touch with your airline for any last-minute notifications or any redirection or rebooking of your flight,” Moore said.

According to TSA, more than 1.6 million individuals passed through travel checkpoints on Saturday.