Delays and cancellations hamper long travel weekend

Travelers returning home from their Memorial Day weekend destinations on Monday saw something common for holiday weekends: delays and cancellations.

Those taking flights over the long weekend tried to dodge severe weather at both the start and the end of it in order to get to their destinations on time. Some were lucky.

“It’s all been pretty easy. I flew out Wednesday evening. Nothing really notable. And then today, I had an hour delay, but it wasn’t bad at all,” Manhattan resident Avery Ozimpk said.

For the unfortunate others, delays in flights meant a change of plans.

“I missed my ride, so now I have to take an Uber,” Bronx resident Skyler Shaw said. 

“My whole plan was, I’ll get back over here at an early time and just enjoy my Memorial Day,” New Jersey resident Oluwole Adeyomoye said. “Now it’s looking like I have to get ready for work tomorrow and just get some rest.”

The TSA said five of its top 10 travel days happened in the last two weeks. The busiest day ever in its 22-year history was on Friday, with a record 2.95 million passengers screened through TSA checkpoints.

While waiting for a plane can induce restlessness for some travelers, Isaiah Baldwin said he welcomed the delay.

“It’s cool. Just hanging out with my girl with the last of the time I’ve got. She lives in Atlanta. I live in Chicago,” Baldwin said. “It’s actually worked out pretty good. We get a little more time together.”

AAA said 43.8 million people would travel 50 miles or more from home.

If that number holds, it will be the second-highest Memorial Day travel forecast since the organization began tracking those numbers.