FORT WORTH, Texas — Trouble in the skies led to chaos on the ground for travelers in North Texas.
On Thursday, FlightAware showed DFW Airport was No. 1 in the world for flight delays and cancellations.
As of 8 p.m., nearly half of all American Airlines flights at DFW Airport today were delayed Thursday, according to Flight Aware. In total, DFW Airport had more than 900 delays in and out of the airport and more than 500 flights cancelled.
Thursday’s storms created a domino effect for flights in and out of DFW Airport.
Yanlay Villatoro and Odales Nanajo, residents of Rice, Texas, were hoping to fly to El Salvador with their family. They arrived to DFW Airport at 9 a.m. Thursday, but after spending the entire day dealing with delays, their flight was cancelled at about 5 p.m.
“I’m overwhelmed, angry, tired,” Villatoro said.
Jharon Perkins and Tyrone Eldrige were hoping to fly back to Kentucky after spending Memorial Day weekend in DFW. They were supposed to fly out on Monday, but have dealt with delays and cancellations from American Airlines for four days.
“We can’t control the weather, but I wish I could get on another airline,” Eldridge said.
Ethan Skinner, a North Texas resident, finally arrived home on Thursday after flight cancellations left him stuck in Mexico for two days.
“I missed work, missed meeting, obligations, feel stress and some anxiety,” Skinner said. “It wasn’t a bad place to be, I was on the beach. I think about all the people here stranded without power, their homes have been damaged. I have to be thankful at least I wasn’t facing that.”
American Airlines issued a Travel Alert warning customers that adverse weather in the DFW area could affect flight plans on May 30-31.