WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — South Florida's three major airports are experiencing extensive flight delays linked to the high number of travelers passing through security points one day after Christmas and blizzards in the Plains.
Palm Beach International is experiencing a 256-plus minute "ground delay" because of "volume," according to theFederal Aviation Administration status system. At 2 p.m. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Miami International Airport were at 60-plus minutes because of initatives to deal with the air traffic system but af of 5 p.m. there is no alert.
As of 5 p.m., tracking at PBIA is showing 35 delays each for 99 departures and 28 for 105 arrivals through Wednesday afternoon. It is affecting a variety of airlines with Delta the most. At FLL, it 102 delays for arrivals and 77 departures. Miami has delays of 71 for arrivals and 42 for departures.
Tampa International Airport posted on X: "The FAA has implemented a delay program impacting Florida airports, including TPA. As a result, some flights may be delayed. Please check directly with your airline for the latest flight updates."
The Transportation Security Administration reported the 12 million passengers come through it security checkpoints across the U.S. from Thursday through Monday. "We’re expecting high travel volumes to continue through this week and New Year’s Day," the TSA posted on Twitter.
Nationally so far Tuesday there are 4,45 delays in and out of the United States with 145 cancellations, according to Flight Aware.
The FAA handles around 45,000 flights in U.S. airspace on any given day.
Airlines were attempting to avoid the delays and cancellations that caused misery at the end of last year that included a major snowstorm
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced a $140 million penalty against Southwest for the situation that stranded more than 2 million travelers over Christmas in 2022. It was blamed on a scheduling problem after bad weather nationwide.
Southwest canceled 426 flights on Saturday and Sunday, and delayed nearly 2,690 flights, according to FlightAware.
On Tuesday, the National Weather Service weather advisories for 10 U.S. states -- Alaska, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, and Washington. These include blizzards in some states.