CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Travelers are still dealing with chaos as flights are canceled and delayed. A sea of bags have grown across airports as people scrambled to find other options. Many have turned toward driving.
For a time that's supposed to feel joyful, for some, it's feeling anything but. The Epstein family is like thousands whose Southwest Airlines flights didn't make it off the ground.
"We got a text message yesterday morning that our flight on Southwest was canceled," Bethamie Epstein said.
Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan owned up to the problem.
“Please also hear that I’m truly sorry," Jordan said. "We’re doing everything we can to return to a normal operation.”
Epstein and her family scrambled to find a backup plan after their flight was canceled from Philadelphia to Atlanta.
“Going through different flight options, some of them were $10,000," Epstein said. “The only real option we found was a flight from Philadelphia to Charlotte and then we decided to rent a car and drive the rest of the way.”
Others have decided to pack their cars and hit the asphalt to drive to their destinations.
Kelly and Bill Smith told WCNC Charlotte they drove from Rochester to Charlotte after their flight was canceled. But, even getting a rental car can be difficult right now.
"There were no rental cars in Philadelphia," Epstein said.
The Hertz company sent WCNC Charlotte a statement:
"While the holiday season is always a busy one for Hertz, severe weather and widespread flight cancellations over the last week have led to increased demand for new bookings, reservation modifications and one-way rentals. From our frontline operations teams to our customer care agents, Hertz employees are working hard to keep our customers moving, particularly those whose travel plans have been disrupted."
Contact Austin Walker at awalker@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.