Ingram Publishing/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Airline passengers who expected significant flight delays or cancellations over the holiday travel season may have been pleasantly surprised when they arrived at their respective airports Thursday and Friday.
As of 7 p.m. Friday evening, the nation’s airports saw a total of 2,544 delays and 157 cancellations — which is actually not bad, given that a normal and busy travel day in the U.S. sees about 2,000 delays and about 100 cancellations.
With more than 45 million travelers expected to fly between Dec. 16 through Jan. 5, travelers were preparing for the worst — especially after thousands of flights last week were cancelled or delayed due to winter weather storms.
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago’s O’Hare, Las Vegas and Denver airports were hit the worst with delays Friday due to weather, construction, and high traffic. Average wait times in the California airports were about an hour, according to Flight Aware.
On the other side of the continent, Newark Liberty International Airport’s AirTrain broke down for a few hours, stranding many travelers in New Jersey who were trying to make their flights. The service has since been restored and passengers are now on their way home.
Sometimes, though, it’s not even the airport’s fault when things don’t go as planned. Earlier Friday, a Canadian citizen who was supposed to be boarding a plane in Florida started acting belligerent and was ultimately denied access to his airplane, according to the Orlando Police Department.
“He pushed past the gate staff and into the jetway, then out of the door at the end of the jetway and onto the tarmac,” the Orlando Police Department told ABC News, adding that he then stole a luggage cart and drove it across an active runways.
The man, identified as Richard Hogh, has seen been apprehended and is in police custody, police said.
Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.