Weather And Staffing Issues Cause Orlando International Airport To Suffer From Hundreds Of Delays
Over 1,200 flights were delayed at Orlando International Airport due to storms and staffing issues.
Flight Delays Due to Poor Weather and Staffing Issues
Flight operations at Orlando International Airport (MCO) were disrupted over the weekend due to poor weather conditions and alleged staffing shortages. On Saturday and Sunday, more than 1,200 flights were delayed, and more than 20 were canceled.
Thunderstorms moving through the region on Sunday afternoon prompted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to issue a ground stop. Although the pause was eventually lifted, it created a domino effect of delays to departures.
Impact on Airlines
According to FlightAware, there were 682 delays as of 23:50 local time on Sunday. Dallas-based Southwest Airlines suffered the most with 174 delays, which was 60% of its scheduled flights at MCO. Ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines had the second-most, with 104 late flights – more than half of its daily operation at the airport.
Delta Air Lines came in just behind with 83 delays, about 61% of its operation. Frontier Airlines had 72 delays, equivalent to 46% of its operation, while American Airlines and JetBlue Airways each experienced 64 delayed flights. United Airlines had 44 late flights.
FAA's Response and Updates
All flights were paused from 16:23 to 18:00 as the FAA implemented a ground stop due to severe weather, according to Orlando local NBC affiliate WESH. Once it was lifted, a ground delay was still in effect, which resulted in departures being reportedly delayed by an average of 68 minutes. However, earlier on Sunday, the FAA’s airspace system status cited staffing issues for the ground stop and ground delay.
Later on Sunday, the FAA updated its system and removed staffing issues from its status. It was revised to cite 'a traffic management problem,' according to ClickOrlando.com.
