JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Rain in Jacksonville and snow in the Northeast caused a second consecutive day of headaches for passengers at Jacksonville International Airport.
By 5 o'clock, there were 17 cancelations and 58 delays according to Flight Aware.
“It’s very frustrating," said Larry Hirschheimer while waiting for a flight back home to New York. "Very frustrating. Very little help from Delta. It’s not their fault, but it’s weather. What are you going to do?”
Hirschheimer’s trip to Jacksonville for a trade show was going swimmingly as he finished up a relaxing round of golf before packing up to head out.
“I was heading here to the airport, and on the way, in the Uber, the flight was canceled," said Hirschheimer. "I’m heading back to New York. To LaGuardia.”
Hirschheimer tried to improve his odds by booking an early flight Tuesday morning after his first one was canceled.
The U.S. Department of Transportation recommends booking the earliest flights possible so they aren’t impacted by the ripple effects of other flight delays and cancellations throughout the day.
The tactic didn’t work for Hirschheimer this time, so he’s pulling out all the stops.
“We had a flight this morning, which got canceled again," said Hirschheimer. "They rebooked us on a flight tomorrow morning, Jacksonville to Atlanta, Atlanta to New York – not even direct. So, I purchased a ticket on Jet Blue for this afternoon to JFK in New York, hoping to get out on that.”
The Department of Transportation reminds passengers they are entitled to a refund for any canceled flight, regardless of the reason.
However, airlines are not required to pay for a hotel, car or food while you’re stuck due to weather, although some will, so the DOT recommends asking the airline for compensation. The worst they can say is no.
“Find a hotel tonight, get some food, wait it out," said Maxwell Tjoa after finding out his flight was canceled.
Tjoa was in Jacksonville for a golf tournament with the Iowa State team.
At least it gets him out of school for a bit.
“Miss a couple classes, but shouldn’t be too bad," said Tjoa.
A few folks who’ve been canceled twice mentioned they were going to start looking at rental cars, desperate to get home.
First Coast News checked in with a few of the rental car desks, but they said they’d actually been pretty quiet with all the delays coming in, and they’d only had a few walk ups.