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Southwest Airlines cancels 81 flights at San Jose airport as Hilary lands in SoCal
There were 50 flight delays and 81 canceled Southwest flights Sunday in San Jose, some of them headed to Southern California. But so far, people say they’re moving ahead with their travel plans despite the disruptions.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Tropical Storm Hilary may also impact travel here in the Bay Area as some flights have been delayed or canceled.
There were 50 flight delays and 81 canceled Southwest flights Sunday in San Jose, some of them headed to Southern California. But so far, people say they’re moving ahead with their travel plans despite the disruptions.
"As we were heading over, just kind of keeping our fingers crossed that we’re not going to have to stay another night," said Alyssa Slaughter, from Washington State.
Dozens of flights arriving and departing at San Jose Mineta International Airport were canceled Sunday. Southwest Airlines put out a travel advisory on its website warning travelers about disruptions as Hilary barrels towards Southern California.
"It’s a little crazy. I used to live in Los Angeles and I know everybody’s freaking out down there because they rarely have any rain, let alone wind. So getting both, with such multitude and such speed, it’s probably frightening a lot of people," said Sal Torres of Daly City.
Records show that Hilary is the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years. At least 9 million people were under flash-flood warnings ahead of the storm.
"I have family that lives down there, so I hope they're ok but yeah, it’s going to set a lot of people off. I know it’s causing huge amounts of delay in L.A. already," Torres said.
Alyssa Slaughter was visiting friends in the Bay Area from Vancouver, Washington. She says her Alaska Airlines flight has not been canceled, but it was delayed, and she can’t say if Hilary is the cause of the delay.
Tropical Storm Hilary forces slew of Bay Area flight cancelations
Tropical Storm Hilary is expected to have a major impact on air travel across the country, especially in California.
"We were getting ready to pack up, and then we got a notice that our flight was delayed by about an hour, and so we just had to kind of adjust a little bit," Slaughter said.
A man says he attempted to fly standby on Southwest Airlines Sunday to get to Austin, Texas, but because many of the flights stopped in Southern California, he had to take a later flight out.
"At LAX and San Diego, initially they seemed like they were booked. Then it looked like the seats were starting to open up because people probably didn’t want to fly through there. So at the end of the day I’m safe flying a later flight, so here I am," said Parth Sethia of Santa Clara.
Southwest Airlines also says on its site that people will have 14 days to rebook their flights to or from Southern California, Las Vegas and Cabo San Lucas, free of charge.
All travelers should check their flight status before traveling over the next few days especially to or from Mexico, California and Nevada.