Flight delays hit Palm Beach airport as authorities shutdown impacts air journey

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The record-long authorities shutdown is taking a toll on air journey throughout the nation and a few of these impacts are being felt in Palm Beach International Airport (PBIA).

On Friday, the FAA started quickly reducing flight operations by 4% at 40 of the busiest airports throughout the nation. Officials say these reductions will attain 10% by Nov. 14th — if the shutdown continues.

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Flight delays hit Palm Beach airport as authorities shutdown impacts air journey

WPTV’s Zitlali Solache spent the afternoon at PBIA, the place minor impacts have been seen. While the airport isn’t on the FAA’s discount record, information reveals 11 flights have been delayed Saturday afternoon.

“Getting out of Cincinnati was just so difficult,” mentioned Palm Beach Gardens resident Ron Davis. “I was delayed for several hours.”

Davis is a frequent flyer and mentioned it’s been a tough week. Hundreds of passengers arriving from New York additionally skilled delays.

“We’re just on the runway probably for like an hour or so,” mentioned traveler Aly Ignasiak. “It stinks because like you feel bad for all the workers that are not being paid right now.”

According to FlightConscious, 14 flights were cancelled at PBIA between Friday night to Saturday night.

Other flyers have been bracing for setbacks, however in some circumstances, options have been discovered.

“I thought I was very lucky that they found another route,” mentioned traveler Peter Martin, whose flight was initially delayed for greater than three hours. “JetBlue found another route to get us home.”

With the vacation journey simply weeks away, many vacationers are hoping issues return to regular quickly.

“It’ll be interesting to see what happens but I fly back next week, so hopefully all this is done by then,” mentioned Ignasiak.