Florida
Utah family stranded in Florida for days due to flight cancellations
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ORLANDO, Fla. — A Utah household is stranded in Florida for a number of days due to the vacation flight cancellations occurring throughout the nation.
The Tesch household, who’s from Enterprise, Washington County, has saved and deliberate for this Christmas journey to Orlando, Florida, for the previous 12 months. The unique plan was to be again house on Christmas Eve. Sadly, they’re caught on the East Coast till Wednesday, at the very least.
“Full and whole chaos,” Keya Tesch stated. “I needed to wait in line for customer support for 2½ hours simply to be informed there was no method to get house till Wednesday, Dec. 28.”
Tesch, her fiancé and 6 youngsters anticipated lengthy traces on the amusement park they visited on Christmas trip.
“The plan was to fly out on Dec. 14, go to Common (Studios) for 4 days, then type of discover Florida, possibly go to the zoo, and are available house on Christmas Eve and rejoice Christmas on the home,” Keya Tesch stated.
They did not anticipate ready for days for his or her aircraft journey house.
“On Dec. 20, we obtained the e-mail saying there’s an excellent risk of delays attributable to storm Elliot,” Tesch stated.
The Teschs went to the airport Saturday.
“We checked our baggage as a result of we had been knowledgeable that our flight was gonna be good,” Tesch stated.
Two and half hours later, they had been informed it was canceled attributable to understaffing, and Southwest Airways’ subsequent accessible flight would not be till Wednesday.
They spent Saturday night time within the Orlando airport.
“It’s a must to make do and make the very best of what you possibly can,” Tesch stated.
She stated they had been informed by airport employees they’d must go discover a resort.
Days later, they haven’t any of their baggage, automotive seats or strollers as a result of it is possible at their ultimate vacation spot, with out them, in Las Vegas.
“What worries me is it should get misplaced as a result of that is a very long time for baggage to be in an airport and never get misplaced,” Tesch stated.
She and her household took a shuttle to a close-by resort the place they are going to keep till Wednesday. She’s run out of provides for her youngsters, ages 6 weeks by means of 14 years outdated.
“I used to be blessed to have one Southwest worker — they purchased us diapers. They went to the one Walgreens that was open on Christmas Eve,” Tesch stated.
She stated eating out and resort charges are including up. She and her fiancé cannot get their paycheck by means of direct deposit; it is again in Washington County.
“Our checks are within the mail, however no person can get it as a result of we now have the mail keys,” Tesch stated. “We weren’t anticipating this. We’re getting brief on funds.”
She stated she’s had little assist from Southwest Airways, which has had a big portion of the flights canceled throughout the U.S.
“They stated I may ship in receipts and file a declare, however that is about all of the communication I’ve had with customer support,” Tesch stated.
The Tesches noticed quite a lot of different passengers resolve to surrender on rebooking.
“We dwell on the opposite facet of the nation; we will not simply hire a automotive and drive house,” she stated.
Due to the scale of their household, they would want a bigger automotive. Additionally they would want three automotive seats. If their flight would not take off on Wednesday, they don’t seem to be certain they’re going to have one other alternative.
“That is scary as a mother,” Tesch stated.
The Teschs had been informed their upcoming flight might not take off as a result of it stops in Austin, and so they’re anticipating tough climate to impression the flight. They had been additionally informed the airline has had points with understaffing.
They hope to get house quickly, and hopefully discover their baggage there.