Days of delays leave passengers stranded at DFW International Airport
Travelers at DFW International Airport say they have spent hours waiting for information, sleeping in terminals or paying for hotel rooms after days of widespread delays and cancellations at American Airlines.
Passengers describe three straight days of confusion and frustration as flights were repeatedly delayed and then canceled with little warning.
Thomas Brady said his family has been stranded for four days.
"This is the fourth day in a row we have been cancelled after being delayed, delayed, delayed, delayed," he said. "It's not obvious to me American is in total meltdown."
Brady said he was back on his phone Tuesday trying to rebook while his son waited in the American Airlines check‑in line again - all tied to the airline's struggle to move flights out of DFW.
"They can't use weather as an excuse forever," he said. "Weather was bad first two days, sure some spillover... It's obvious they have staffing issues and management issues."
Passengers report repeated cancellations
For the past 72 hours, passengers say planes have sat on tarmacs for hours only to have takeoff canceled - sometimes two or three times in a row.
On Monday alone, more than 1,000 American Airlines flights in or out of DFW were canceled, according to FlightAware.
Patrick and Karen McCain were supposed to fly home to Seattle on Sunday. They now can't leave until Thursday and say the airline has been unable to organize crews and pilots.
"We're like, we are here. Where's the crew?" Karen McCain said.
"We came to the airport Sunday, flight said it was available, then delayed, delayed, delayed, got on a plane at 7:30," Patrick McCain said. "And about an hour later it's cancelled. Then they cancelled around midnight."
American cites winter weather impacts
American Airlines issued an apology Monday, saying five of its nine hubs - including DFW, its largest - were affected by the winter blast that moved through the region late last week.
But the impact is still being felt by paying customers days later as they continue trying to get home.