Hurricane Matthew causing flight delays, cancellations for Bay Area travelers
SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (KGO) -- The closure of South Florida airports due to Hurricane Matthew is creating headaches for passengers all the way west to the Bay Area.
The San Francisco International Airport says it had eight cancelled flights, but many other flights were affected.
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Airlines can experience a domino effect as airlines can't get their aircrafts to various desitnations. And that's what some passengers are experiencing at SFO. Passengers re-book their flights, while others can't get where they need to go.
The cancelled flights at SFO have been limited to Miami, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, so it surprised Mark Caraway that he couldn't get to New York.
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"What they're saying is all the flights are getting re-routed up the North and so it's congesting a lot of what they can do for New York," said San Francisco resident Mark Caraway. "I need to re-evaluate how I can get to my friend's wedding tomorrow."
The anticipated closures of South Florida airports sent passengers scrambling to rebook flights. Even those who live on Florida's Gulf Coast decided it would be smart to fly out early, rather than get stranded.
Paul Johnson lives in Sarasota. "Trying to be pro-active and getting here early, catching an earlier flight, doing what we have to do, make sure we're not stuck, so you're not interviewing us sleeping on the floor tonight," Johnson said.
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Cancellations can have a ripple effect on an airline. American, for example, uses Miami to connect passengers to destinations in South America. Thus, a cancelled flight to Miami also means a cancelled flight to Buenos Aires. A cancelled flight to Fort Lauderdale can mean a missed connection to a Caribbean cruise ship.
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Travel agency access trips has a group visiting Havana right now, which was not impacted by Hurricane Matthew. But with the group scheduled to leave Cuba on Sunday, contingency plans are in place.
Veteran flyers who have faced blizzard, flood and thunderstorm delays in the past are seeing their patience tested by a powerful hurricane.
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