DFW Travelers Impacted by Winter Weather

Holiday travel was a nightmare for millions of Americans on this Christmas day. While not so bad in North Texas, winter weather caused all kinds of problems around the country. Still, travelers were willing to try their luck to be with loved ones.

A warm welcome from family is part of the holiday travel experience. But the journey isn’t always smooth. Traveling this time of year could go well, or very wrong.

Erika Silvers was in tears when she arrived at DFW Airport from Portland.

“The airport was packed. So, like one in the morning they were like no we can’t fly out,” she said. “This is the first time in like two years that I come home. And I want to spend my Christmas with my husband.”

Silvers plans to arrive on the 23^RD were dashed. Instead, she arrived Christmas evening.

“All flights from Portland, Oregon were canceled, pretty much all of them. And I had to wait two days to get out,” Silvers said.

She’s one of tens of thousands of people nationwide whose plans were frustrated by weather, delays, cancellations, and luggage complications.

U.S.-based airlines canceled some 12,000 flights Wednesday through Saturday. At Love Field, passengers were in limbo after Southwest Airlines canceled a quarter of its flights during that time.

On social media, American Airlines responded to a barrage of complaints over lost or late luggage. NBC5’s request for comment from the airline went unanswered.

Those who did arrive as planned considered themselves lucky. Samuel Manhoff says his family’s trek from Chicago went as well as anyone could expect.

“We were concerned with the cold and the weather from earlier in the week, but luckily everything was cleared up by then, so it wasn’t terrible,” he said.

Manhoff said they traveled to DFW to see extended family.

“It’s been a sigh of relief. The pressures off now, we can just celebrate and relax,” said Manhoff.

Silvers said she’ll try to make up for lost time and put her travel misfortunes behind her.

“Finally getting here is such a rewarding feeling,” she said.

As of Sunday evening, some airlines started to see scheduling problems ease up, though not completely out of the woods.

The Federal Aviation Administration said schedules peaked at more than 47,5000 flights on Thursday.