Canceled Spirit Airlines flights leave Philly International scrambling

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — At least 10 Spirit Airlines flights to and from Philadelphia International Airport were canceled Monday morning, some at the last minute.

According to airline tracking site Flight Aware, those 10 flights account for about 34% of Spirit’s daily operations in Philly.

A spokesperson for Spirit Airlines said the cancellations were “proactive” and they are getting back on track from “a series of weather and operational challenges” over the weekend.

Some of the canceled flights range from Cancun, Mexico, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Many passengers voiced frustration and disappointment as they waited in airport limbo. Choona Boiano shook her head as she left the extra-long ticketing line.

“I’m trying to stay extremely calm. Extremely calm. But what can you do?” she asked. “Tearing up things and swearing and cursing doesn’t help anything.”

She was supposed to go to Las Vegas, but that flight was canceled. She rebooked to go to Detroit first, then her destination — then that was also axed. On Boiano’s third attempt, she of course ran into another twist.

“They now have scheduled me to leave out of Baltimore with a straight-through flight going to Vegas in the morning,” she said.

Some travelers are remaining calm like Boiano — things happen, they get it. Others were not so understanding.

When Linda Moore checked her flight to Cancun this morning, it said it was on time. But when they got to the airport, she found out it was canceled, with no additional information.

“I just want this to be over,” she said. “I have no words how bad this is.”

“Yeah, this is a bad start to a vacation,” added Ed Soto, who’s traveling with Moore. He said it’s upsetting because of the months of preparation they put into it.

“We did everything we’re supposed to. We got our passports, we did everything on our side that we should be doing. And less than 24 hours, it just kind of fell apart,” he said.

In a statement, Spirit Airlines said it is working to get things back on track.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Tim Jimenez/KYW Newsradio