Passengers stalled as delays cause frustration at PHL Airport

Travelers at the Philadelphia International Airport were faced with frustration as flight delays lead to pile ups of luggage and long lines on Monday morning.

Passengers planning to fly on American Airlines told NBC10’s Brenna Weick that they had been waiting for several hours as flights were repeatedly delayed or cancelled.

One traveler from Croatia told NBC10 she was excited to visit America, but this experience had soured her visit.

“We were sitting in a plane for two hours and they told us, ‘if somebody wants to leave, you can leave, and you wouldn’t be rewarded,’ and after 50 minutes, they let us out,” she said. “We were waiting for, I don’t know how many hours, and at almost two in the morning, they told us the flight would be delayed.”

A representative for the airport told NBC10 that there was lightening in the area of the airport on Sunday evening that could have caused activity on the airfield — including the loading and unloading of baggage. Activity on the airfield, the representative said, is often paused for 30 minutes by airlines in case of lightning.

Contacted Monday, American Airlines did not immediately return calls asking what may have caused hours long delays for passengers.