Storm pounding Bay area prompts over 100 SFO flight cancellations

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Hundreds of flyers out of SFO are trying to figure out how to get from here to there despite all the weather-related flight cancellations and delays on Friday.

That means dozens of frustrated flyers.

Some Alaska Airlines flights are being rerouted from SFO to Oakland International Airport because of the massive delays at SFO. The airline is then bussing people to SFO because most passengers parked at SFO.

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Check the arrival and departure board at SFO and you may get some bad news. "We've seen 147 flight cancellations today. That's about 10 percent of our flight schedule," said SFO spokesperson Doug Yakel.

That's left Mauricio Paz and his family in a quandary. They're from Bolivia and are trying to get to LA to catch a flight to Hawaii. "I don't know what to do because all the flights are cancelled," he said.

"I'm like on the verge of tears," said Santa Rosa native Lydia Smith, who's trying to get to Oregon for a baby shower.

Not only was her flight cancelled, "The best they could do was get me a flight from Virgin from San Jose tonight at 7 o'clock."

Alongside the typical delays because of low clouds and rain, there's another weather problem. "The system is coming out of the south and so the winds are completely opposite of the way we normally operate," Yakel said.

So instead of making their landing approach from south to north, passing over the San Mateo Bridge, they're landing from north to south.

Yakel says that is the least efficient pattern for landings and take-offs. "And delays right now are running 50 to 60 minutes on average," he said.

Yakel suggests travelers download their airline's app that notifies them of delays and check it often.

Ann Miller is taking it all in stride. She was in town for a conference and, now it's over, her husband is flying in from Colorado for a getaway weekend.

His flight was delayed more than an hour. "I just plan to be here to wait for him," she said. "So it's another hour. It doesn't bother me."

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