Miami A powerful winter storm disrupted holiday travel across large swaths of the United States on Christmas Eve this year, covering states from Massachusetts to Wisconsin, Michigan and New York in snow.
The storm caused major headaches for travelers, as icy conditions snarled highway traffic and delays were reported at some of the country’s busiest airports.
“Five hours later, they canceled the entire flight,” said holiday traveler Taylor Schott.
Another traveler, Jaisel Alagiri, shared a similar experience, saying: “Everyone gets a text message saying the flight has been cancelled.”
Adding to the disruption, American Airlines experienced a technical issue Tuesday morning, prompting the airline to request a 90-minute ground stop from the Federal Aviation Administration for all of its flights. The ground station was lifted just before 8 a.m., and operations have since resumed.
Meanwhile, vacation travelers at Miami International Airport are noticing upgrades that could make future travel easier.
MIA Director Ralph Cutty gave Local 10 News an exclusive tour of the recent improvements, including repairs to people carriers, elevators and escalators. After years of neglect, which led to 15% of these devices being out of service, only 5% of them need repair or replacement.
In addition to these improvements, modern restrooms and ticket counters are being constructed, a welcome change for the 7.85 million Americans from AAA projects who will be traveling by air this holiday season.
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