The spring break travel season is upon us, and well, if you’re traveling this weekend, you may need to bring some patience, at least if you’re flying on one particular airline. So here’s the thing. Spring break travel means a LOT of people are flying into Orlando International Airport. However, this time of the year also brings rainy weather to the South and Southeast.
Southwest Airlines at the Orlando Airport
Those two things mean that this is the time of year that flight delays could happen (we saw delays around this time last year), especially on Southwest Airlines, which has a lot of flights coming and going from those destinations. As of March 9th, Southwest Airlines has delayed over 40% of its flights at Orlando International Airport. Ouch.
Yes, if you’re flying to or from Orlando International Airport today, March 9th, and your flight is booked on Southwest, you might want to prepare for flight delays. According to FlightAware, 201 Southwest flights are currently delayed at Orlando, which is about 54 percent of its total flights. Additionally, 53 flights have been canceled. Note that we’ve been watching these numbers increase all morning.
©FlightAware
It’s not just Orlando that’s being affected. There are over 800 Southwest delays across the country. According to WTHR, most of Southwest’s delays are due to weather. Southwest wrote in a statement, “Thunderstorms in the Southeast are impacting our operation, and we apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate our Customers’ patience while we work to get them safely to their destinations.”
Southwest airplane
The weather is also affecting other airlines. At the moment, nearly 500 flight delays are happening at Orlando International Airport, and 4,000 flight delays are happening across the U.S. Yep, weather can really mess up a flight schedule.
©FlightAware
If you’re flying this weekend, you’ll want to make sure you are prepared. First, be sure to download your airline’s app and make sure you have airline notifications set to contact you in case of a delay or cancelation. If you’re at the airport, you’ll want to keep an eye on the screens that display flight information, as well as listen to any and all announcements about your flight. If your flight DOES get delayed, be sure you know about your rights as a passenger.
Orlando Airport
Stay tuned to DFB for more.
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I was on a Southwest flight March 9th. Waited on Orlando tar Mac without air conditioning for 2.5 hours. If this was weather, all airlines would be affected. Now waiting for bags for 45 minutes with no end in sight.
We were stuck at ATL for mad long yo. Our plane didn’t come for a hot minute and the flights got delayed. Had to poop in the airport which was not something I wanted to do.
My family with our 3 year old daughter was caught in the delays at Orlando. Yes, it was frustrating but every Southwest employee interactes with was professional, courteous, and just as unhappy as the travelers. Witnessing multiple rude encounters from other travelers make me thankful that the Southwest personnel were able to keep their composure and professionalism. MCO was packed at 3:30 am so it was a late night for everyone.
I was scheduled to fly out of Orlando International Airport Saturday March 9th. I got to the airport and saw my flight was canceled. I was in tears. I’m 60 years old and was traveling alone. They sent me a message they would try to get me on another flight. I checked at a gate and found out they hadn’t done that. The nice lady at the gate found 1 seat on another flight that had been delayed. One other passenger was given 3 different excuses why this happened. There were more delays but thank God I finally made it home after 11:30pm. I always had good luck with Southwest but this is my last flight with them.