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Airline troubles continue amid COVID-19 and weather concerns

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Travelers have been dealing with airline headaches amid the holiday season.

“We just hope we get out tonight,” flyer Laurie Spears said.

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Cancellations and delays have been above the norm for weeks as flyers like Laurie Spears try to get home to Indianapolis.

“I got a notice it was delayed by 30 minutes, and I turned around and got another notice it was delayed again, so an hour delay and we are just here hoping we can get out tonight,” she said.

By the end of Sunday, the Jacksonville International Airport saw at least 73 delays and 26 cancellations.

Saunti Williams has had to change her plans because delays messed things up for her.

“I was getting ready to leave and then got delayed it said my flight got delayed,” Williams said. “It was my connection flight, so I had to rebook everything.”

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Companies have blamed both bad weather and the omicron variant for the troubles and staff shortages.

Duval County reported 8,243 new cases from Dec. 24-30.

Meanwhile, heavy rain and storms are coming to the Jacksonville area Sunday night into Monday morning, putting JIA at 20 cancellations and one delay for Sunday, according to Flight Aware.

It’s all something that Rozlie Potts is happy to be done with.

“Everything went great with our first flight, our second flight was delayed by two hours, then three hours,” she said.

If you have a flight tomorrow and are worried about it, JIA recommends that flyers constantly check what that status is and to get to the airport at least two hours early for your flight.

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