DALLAS — Airlines operating out of Dallas-Fort Worth International and Love Field airports are working to get back on schedule but are also warning passengers that it could take several days to recover from the impact of two days of ice and snow.
Fabian Lopez is among the thousands with ice-fueled travel frustration. His Thursday flight canceled out of Love Field. He drove from Oklahoma City to Dallas hoping his flight to Chicago/Midway would eventually be rescheduled.
It was, but not until Friday morning and then delayed several more times until a planned 1:45 p.m. Friday departure.
"I'm just hoping it works out. I mean I got to get to Chicago. I have a baby shower tomorrow. My first son. My wife's already up there. She's kind of stressing out," he said before he headed to his gate.
And stress is the order of the day for everyone: passengers and airline employees alike.
Even with Love Field open again after a 24-hour shutdown, the schedule is limited. According to FlightAware, North Texas airports still lead the country in the number of cancellations and delays.
And, as of early Friday afternoon, 26% of departures were canceled out of Love Field and 48% of departures were canceled out of DFW Airport - although after lengthy runway plowing and plane de-icing operations that began on Thursday morning, there are now three runways open.
"But at the end of the day our safety is what's most important," said Rhonda Myles from her home in Fort Worth. She and her husband Antoine were on a Southwest Airlines flight Wednesday evening, headed to celebrate their second wedding anniversary in Las Vegas.
As freezing rain began to fall, the captain announced they could not take off. The flight was canceled and everyone had to de-plane and go home.
"There were just a lot of people crying and very upset," she said of other passengers who were trying to get to the West Coast for graduations and commencement ceremonies. "We were just grateful, although we were disappointed that our anniversary trip was getting canceled, we were at least able to go home and sleep in our beds and it was something we could reschedule and celebrate later."
"I understand. There's certain procedures and policies that need to be followed," said Fabian Lopez. "But I've rescheduled three, four times now and its just a hassle you know."
Fortunately for Lopez, his flight to Midway in Chicago on Southwest Airlines did take off at 2 p.m. on Friday, roughly 36 hours late.
In an updated statement Friday evening DFW said it was operating six runways.
"We are collaborating with our airline partners to resume normal operations with the expectation of residual delays and some cancellations. The airport crews are inspecting surfaces as temperatures will return to below freezing overnight. We recommend customers continue monitoring their flight information with their airline and arrive earlier than normal for their departure."
In an updated statement Friday, Southwest Airlines said: "We are operating a reduced scheduled today as we work to restore our full operation. As always, we encourage travelers to visit Southwest.com to check their flight status."
Likewise, American Airlines in a statement to WFAA:
"The winter storm continues to have a significant impact on our operation. Flights into DFW have resumed today, and we anticipate additional impact due to conditions there and airports in the northeast U.S. and Canada as the storm moves. We apologize to our customers whose travel plans may be affected and want to thank our team who is working tirelessly to help safely care for our customers."