TAMPA, Fla — Travelers are rebooking and making arrangements after flights have been delayed and canceled at Tampa International Airport (TPA).
As of Sunday morning, nearly 26 flights from Southwest Airlines, both departing from and arriving at Tampa International Airport, have been impacted.
The airline canceled more than 1,000 flights, or 28% of its schedule as of 2 p.m. ET Sunday, according to flight tracker FlightAware. The cancellations mark the highest rate by far of the major U.S. airlines.
Southwest Airlines issued a statement from the airline's Twitter account citing Air Traffic Control issues. The full statement reads:
"ATC issues and disruptive weather have resulted in a high volume of cancellations throughout the weekend while we work to recover our operation. We appreciate your patience as we accommodate affected Customers, and Customer Service wait times are longer than usual. If your travel was affected, please explore self-service rebooking options by checking your flight status on www.southwest.com."
Next in line are Allegiant and Spirit, both of which had canceled 5% and 4% of its flights respectively, according to the flight tracker. American Airlines canceled 2% of its flights.
In a tweet, Tampa International Airport said this weekend's flight delays stem from a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-imposed air traffic management program in response to bad weather to the north.
On Friday, a user replied to the airport's Twitter saying they hadn't seen any bad weather, and Tampa International Airport replied, "bad weather from earlier today caused somewhat of a trickle-down effect."
This issue is not just affecting Tampa International, but all Florida airports are feeling the impact from the FAA, TPA says.
Sunday, the FAA said in a tweet from its official Twitter account that the delays were a result of "widespread severe weather, military training and limited staffing in one area of the Jacksonville en route center."
Across the Tampa International Airport website, a banner is present letting travelers know that TPA is still seeing a high number of delays, cancelations and scheduling issues due to a recent weather event in north Florida.
A viewer wrote to 10 Tampa Bay to tell about her issues with Southwest Airlines on Friday.
According to the woman, a full flight destined for Raleigh, North Carolina was left on the runway for three hours waiting in line to take off. Once it was their turn to take off, the passengers were told they "timed out on the runway" and there was a tailwind warning, forcing them to return to the gate.
After waiting more than an hour, the passengers were allowed to board again, with the reassurance there was no wait time for the runway, the viewer wrote. Once everyone was seated, they were alerted of a 45-minute wait on the runway.
This was when the woman asked to deboard the Southwest Airlines plane.
The airline workers said there was a shutdown at Jacksonville because of staffing issues and no planes heading northbound, according to the viewer. When the workers developed a new flight plan, they eventually said they didn't have a pilot to fly the plane because the other pilot timed out.
After getting off the plane for the last time, the woman said it took another hour to get her bags.
"I sat on a plane that did not move more than a football field for five hours for just an hour and 17-minute flight to [Raleigh, North Carolina]," the viewer wrote.
She reportedly was not able to get a stroller for her kids, who are 6-years-old and 6-months old.
"We as passengers are unsure of what happened, when will we get our money back, and was given poor service across the plane," the viewer wrote. "Some people were unable to find lodging, rental cars and new flights. Southwest was not able to rebook [because of] the flights [being] full Saturday..."
The viewer explained after speaking with the airline, she was refunded $300 in a form of a voucher to be used on a future flight. Her daughter was also given a voucher.
The airline has not commented on the speculation of the issue stemming from vaccine mandates put into action, The Arizona Republic reports.
A spokesperson for the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association told The Arizona Republic "the organization was unaware of any labor-related issues and would not condone any sort of work stoppage. "
People can find information on departing and arriving flights for the Tampa International Airport on their website.