TAMPA, Fla. — As passengers arrive at Tampa International Airport (TPA), the relief is palpable. The hugs are tighter and warmer as bitter cold alters travel plans nationwide just days from Christmas.
Travelers are racing to beat the winter storm and the mounting cancellations and delays that it’s causing.
Even in Tampa, where the arctic blast isn’t yet being felt, a number of flights have been impacted.
As TPA spokesperson Emily Nipps explained, the impact of the cold in other areas causes a domino effect throughout the airline industry. It can cause various delays and cancellations in places less impacted by the winter weather, like Tampa.
“We are expecting the cancellations and the delays to build up a little bit,” she said. “We’re encouraging people to check with your airline if you’re going to be flying this weekend.”
Friday, one of the airport’s busiest travel days of the year, TPA is already facing almost three dozen cancellations.
According to Nipps, if you’re flying from Tampa International, you can improve your trip by arriving early, using the Blue Express Curbside lanes if you don’t have a checked bag, and ordering food and booking parking in advance.
Still, disappointment is possible.
Thursday afternoon, Ryleigh White waited anxiously in TPA’s main terminal.
“I can tell you; I was crying,” she said. “I was crying pretty hard, actually.”
White’s boyfriend, a Marine stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, was struggling to return home for the holidays after his flight was canceled.
“I was like, well, I don’t know what to do,” she said. “It was hard to find another flight.”
But he got lucky and found one, and as he strolled into the main terminal Thursday afternoon, those difficulties made the hug with White that much sweeter.
