Dallas Fort-Worth airport: Major storms hit Southern states of the USA last week, causing hundreds of flights to be cancelled. Photo: Supplied/ Samantha Ruhlman
A Wellington woman says she feels like she never wants to fly again after a six day ordeal that saw her flights home from Dallas cancelled repeatedly, amid storms that caused havoc in Southern US states.
Samantha Ruhlman was booked to travel on American Airlines from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in Texas, to Auckland Airport, on Wednesday 8 January.
Her flight was at 11pm that day, but it was cancelled after two hours on the tarmac due to a problem with the plane.
The solo traveller said the airline gave her a voucher to stay at a hotel, which she described as "extremely dirty and scary".
"I had to like put the chair against the door and I was just like so afraid."
Ruhlman said the next day she was rescheduled onto another flight at the same time, but it was cancelled again, this time due to snow.
The US was "hammered" by a storm that delayed hundreds of flights, with states of emergency declared in some places, CNN reported.
"Lots of flights were cancelled that day so the line to talk to someone was like four hours."
She said she had to stay at a hotel again and get a flight the next day.
"By this point I'm very dishevelled and I find some other girls that are travelling alone and we made a friend group that we called the long lost friends."
Wellington woman Samantha Ruhlman has recounted a six day delay to her flight home from Dallas, and says she was not able to access her checked in luggage. Photo: Supplied/ Samantha Ruhlman
Ruhlman said her third flight was canned because after it took two hours to de-ice the plane and "the crew was timed out".
"Everyone at this point - because it's the third flight - is going crazy, people are telling everyone to stay on the plane.
"At one point we started chanting 'new crew'."
She said eventually they had to get off, with lots of people wearing the same clothes they had been for four days and unable to get medication as they were unable to access their bags.
Ruhlman said she spent all of her American money at the airport and was unable to eat anything on the last day they were there.
She said the fourth flight they got on was able to leave, on Saturday 11 January (Dallas time), and she was back in Wellington Monday morning (13 January NZT).
"I kind of felt like I was on Survivor, I just have never wanted to get home so bad and I feel like I never want to fly again."
Ruhlman said she would like a full refund from American Airlines.
American Airlines told RNZ they apologise to their customers for the inconvenience of the delays and appreciate their patience and understanding.
They said customers were provided hotel accommodation and meal vouchers.
- RNZ
Storm "hammered" US, cancelled flights - CNN meteorologist Mary Gilbert
A significant winter storm brought snow and ice to the south of the United States during this time, causing major travel disruptions and power outages, CNN's Mary Gilbert has reported.
Schools and government offices were closed due to the storm on Friday 10 January, and states of emergency declared as it disrupted travel.
More than 3000 flights in and out of the US were cancelled on Friday - the USA's worst day for flight cancellations since July - as the storm stretched over nearly every major airport in the South, according to FlightAware.
More than 135,000 homes and businesses were without power in Georgia, Texas and Arkansas amid freezing temperatures by Friday evening, according to PowerOutage.us.
Snow had piled up in those areas since Thursday 9 January. Areas north of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro recorded up to 8 inches of snow. Dallas picked up 2 to 4 inches of snow, marking this storm as the city's biggest in four years.
More than 590 flights, or 56 percent, leaving Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport were cancelled by 5 pm ET Friday, according to FlightAware. The airport is the busiest airport in the world based on passenger traffic and also a main hub to legacy carrier Delta Air Lines. A ground stop was issued at the Atlanta airport Friday afternoon at the airline's request, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Two of American Airlines' major hubs, Charlotte Douglas International Airport and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, also called off many flights for the day, with 43 percent of departing flights cancelled in Charlotte and 23 percent cancelled at DFW, according to FlightAware.
- CNN
