JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The effects of the blizzard that is pounding the Northeast is being felt right here in the River City.
Almost a dozen outbound flights to Newark, New York and Boston have been canceled out of JIA ahead of the storm, leaving many passengers stranded and airlines backed up.
Not even the airport musician's ukulele could ease the frustrations being felt by many local passengers.
Mary Jo Johnson was actually one of the lucky ones. She was able to make it out of Boston just in time.
"I was supposed to be here Saturday morning but we were able to get through to JetBlue and change it last minute," said Johnson.
However, her husband had to take a different flight which connected in New York. After waiting for him a few hours they were finally reunited.
According to the director of external affairs for the Jacksonville Aviation Authority nine outbound and inbound flights were canceled out of JIA on Friday.
"The airport is prepared in terms of just handling the passengers if they need to be here for an extended period of time," said Michael Stewart, JAA.
According to Stewart, through the years airlines have gotten better at planning ahead of a major storm.
"They are much better prepared now because they do preemptive cancellations and they move their planes around in anticipation of the weather conditions," said Stewart.
The bad news is that all those passengers who were supposed to fly out or in today will get pushed back another day, causing a backlog of airlines trying to catch up.
Even if your airline has not called you to inform you of a cancellation there is still a chance your flight may be delayed.
Make sure to check the
status of your flight before heading to the airport.
