A number of airlines have announced they will be canceling flights in July and August to prevent further disruptions.
Nebraska newlyweds on the way home from their honeymoon were among those stranded at the Atlanta airport after thousands of flights were canceled due to weather and staff shortages.
Joe and Megan Reis spoke to Inside Edition about the stressful ordeal, which happened when they were traveling back to Omaha from the Caribbean. They were stuck at the airport 1000 miles away from home for two days.
Joe shot video of the line at Delta's customer service desk, as desperate passengers tried to find a way out of there.
“Everyone’s panicking, cause people don't know if they’re sleeping there,” Joe said.
Some took to social media to vent their frustrations about the airlines.
“I’ve been stuck for the last five hours, because all the flights have been canceled,” one man said.
“It looks like a trauma center in the freaking airport right now, because everyone's flights are getting delayed, canceled or missed,” another person said.
Airport hotels quickly sold out and many folks were forced to sleep on the floor in the terminals.
“Sleeping on an airport floor is not for the weak. It’s not comfortable,” said Brooke Osbourne, who was also trapped in Atlanta for 24 hours.
Osbourne was traveling with her 11-month-old toddler Carson and ran out of diapers.
“Before we left on our last flight, I used the last diaper I brought. I was like, ‘Well, I hope we get there!’” Osbourne said.
Across the nation this holiday weekend, 19,000 flights were canceled or delayed as bad weather and staff shortages wreaked havoc on airlines.
In Charlotte, one woman suffered serious chest pains as she ran to make her flight after a gate change.
Tyler Wren, 17, was there.
“She looked out of breath. It was right after the gate change. We were getting ready to board the plane, she was in line and she just collapsed,” Wren said.
“CBS Mornings” co-anchor Tony Dokoupil also got caught up in the chaos.
“I had a flight canceled on Friday, two-hour delay on Saturday and a three-hour delay on Sunday,” Dokoupil said. The dad of four missed Father’s Day.
“As a traveler there’s very little you can do to prevent a meltdown of the system. To survive the summer, yes, you have to pack a little bit of extra patience. But you should also be packing an extra set of clothes, medication, snacks and whatever it is that’s going to get you through some really long delays,” The Points Guy executive editor Scott Mayerowitz said.
A number of airlines have announced they will be canceling flights in July and August to prevent further disruptions.
