Travel headaches explained: FAA sheds light on Orlando International Airport's delays over holidays
ORLANDO, Fla. - Disruptions have been prevalent at Orlando International Airport this holiday season, and now, the Federal Aviation Administration is shedding some light on why.
The FAA confirmed to FOX 35 on Tuesday that inclement weather in the Northeast, some storms over Charlotte, North Carolina, and a high volume of flights may have caused some headaches at MCO.
FOX 35's Kelsie Cairns was on hand at MCO to speak with some Southwest travelers who embraced Tuesday’s post-Christmas travel rush.
John Smith, who was traveling to Colorado said, "It's pretty incredible that this many people are actually out and about."
Tens of thousands of people passed through MCO.
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The 6-year-old, who was flying from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was supposed to land in Fort Myers, Florida. Instead, he ended up in Orlando, Florida, – four hours away from his grandmother, Maria Ramos.
Another traveler, Maddie Kenney, was flying back to Dallas after visiting Walt Disney World for five days. She said delays had her on edge.
"It was definitely a concern, we got here really early so we didn't catch any of those flight delays and we were ready to go," she said.
Smith also said he arrived to MCO early. Five-and-a-half hours early, to be exact. And he still experienced delays.
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During last year’s Southwest travel meltdown, it took him three days just to get to Colorado, a destination he frequents during the holiday season.
"I had to switch my flight like four times," he said.
According to the airport’s flight tracking website, Tuesday alone saw more than 30 delayed flights.
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"The entire system is wound so tight all of a sudden, an extra 10 airplanes at a time that they wouldn't have been there otherwise is going to cause some pretty big delays," aviation expert Shem Malmquist told FOX 35.
Airport officials expect Dec. 30 to be the busiest travel day with nearly 188,000 travelers expected to pass through MCO.