Holiday travelers battle flight delays, cancellations

Thousands expected daily through Jacksonville airport over holidays

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – If you're planning to catch a flight out of Jacksonville International Airport in the next few days, officials said you should probably check the status of your flight frequently.

At 8 p.m., three flights had been canceled and 38 had been delayed Wednesday at the airport.

Quite a few travelers were waiting around in the airport Wednesday because of those flight delays. They were just hoping the flights wouldn't be canceled.

Sri Duggirala was waiting in the Jacksonville airport for more than four hours.

ONLINE: Check status of flights at JAX

"I'm going to Baltimore and I'm here in Jacksonville, and I just came to know that the flight got delayed just now," Duggirala said. "It is really frustrating me, and I'm not sure, it may be delayed again."

And that's just one of the travel woes for passengers coming in and out of JAX. Even people who made it to Jacksonville said it was slow going along the way, especially out of New York.

"It was a bunch of traffic," said Christy Brener. "And then I got to the airport. And I thought the flight would be delayed. It wasn't. We got on the plane, but we were in the plane for almost an hour. They were de-icing the plane."

Jacksonville Aviation Authority spokeswoman Debbie Jones said Wednesday was just the start of a huge three-day stretch for travelers.

She estimated about 8,000 passengers would be flying out of the airport Wednesday, another 4,000 on Thanksgiving and around 6,000 on Black Friday.

Wednesday, hundreds of passengers were hoping to make their Thanksgiving destinations.

"I am coming from JFK and it's crazy," Kate Augustus said. "I was suposed to leave at 7 last night. I missed my flight last night because of traffic. It took 2 1/2 hours to get to the airport, and then this morning our flight was delayed about an hour, hour and a half."

JAA has established a parking lot for travelers' convenience. The economy Lot 3 will be available for a flat fee until Dec. 2.

And as always be sure to check the status of your flight and arrive early to the airport.