FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Travelers faced another morning of delays and long lines at South Florida airports on Tuesday as spring break crowds collided with weather-related cancellations and the partial government shutdown.
Hannah Hendrickson, visiting from Kentucky, said the wait was frustrating at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
“We’ve just spent hours in lines,” said Hendrickson. “Some people have been great, some people have been snotty. “That just makes the experience not so fun.”
Jazlyn McIntyre, visiting from Ohio, described her own travel troubles.
“We flew into Fort Lauderdale Thursday night. Our flight got delayed three different times on the flight in, and then our flight back got cancelled last night,” she said.
Adding to the strain, TSA workers missed their first full paycheck Friday because of the shutdown. A massive storm system along the East Coast has also triggered hundreds of delays and cancellations.
Hendrickson said she understood the weather-related delays.
“We got delayed, weather -- totally get that. They can’t control the weather,” she said.
At Miami International Airport, officials posted on social media that they were working to minimize disruptions caused by the storm.
Travelers sympathized with TSA employees caught in the shutdown.
“Given what the TSA employees are going through right now it’s hard to get bitter about all of these things because I know they are in a really tough spot,” a traveler said.
Travelers have faced shutdown-related chaos before, after last year’s record-long government shutdown. If this partial shutdown continues, scenes like this could become the new normal at airports nationwide.
McIntyre said she hoped her flight would go through.
“I’m hoping it doesn’t get cancelled,” she said. “If not, we’re staying the night at this airport cause I’m not spending money on another hotel room.”
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