Holiday travelers at South Florida’s three international airports encountered widespread delays of an hour or more on Tuesday as federal aviation authorities activated measures to control heavier-than-usual commercial aviation traffic.
By the early afternoon, airline passengers at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport experienced gate holds and taxi delays of between an hour to an a hour and 15 minutes, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
According to the FlightAware tracking service, the airport had a combined total of 259 delays between arrivals and landings. The FAA said arriving traffic experienced airborne delays of 15 minutes or less.
“Today’s operational plan forecasted heavy volume in Florida, and we are seeing some delays due to seasonal volume,” an agency spokesman said by email.
Shortly before 2:30 p.m. at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, Spirit Airlines had registered the most delays at 70, followed by JetBlue Airways (48), Southwest Airlines (45) and Allegiant (22), according to FlightAware.
Palm Beach International had 119 delays with JetBlue, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines experiencing the most delays.
Miami International Airport had 209 delays, with American, which operates the most flights out of the Miami-Dade County airport, leading the list of delayed flights. according to FlightAware data.
Delays also affected major airports on Florida’s Gulf Coast, including Tampa International and Sarasota-Bradenton, according to reports.
Nationwide, FlightAware reported 3,885 delays to and from the U.S. and 99 cancellations. In South Florida, the number of canceled flights was negligible.
Check your airline before arriving at the airport, or check Flight Aware.
Another surge in travelers
The nation’s airlines said they were determined to be prepared for another round of heavy December holiday traffic this year as large numbers of travelers again booked flights despite the continuing impact of inflation on their pocketbooks.
Carriers bulked up their staffs by hiring more pilots, flight attendants and ground workers. But at the same time, some airlines such as United and Southwest elected to add more flights to Florida for the holiday season.
Despite promises to avoid a repeat of debacle of mass cancellations and delays during last year’s December holidays, Southwest again experienced systemwide disruptions over the weekend. But the airline was hoping to resolve its problems by Monday, according to reports.