Hundreds of people stranded in airports with no idea when they will be able to return home

Little Rock, Arkansas – Following the devastation caused by an arctic blast across the United States, hundreds of people are still stranded in airports, and they have no idea when they will be able to return home.

It just so happened that one of the busiest travel times of the year coincided with the arrival of winter weather.

A great number of people are currently stranded in the airport with no way to leave.

“I bet you there was just tons and tons of bags. They have an area that was just nothing but luggage just sitting out there just waiting for people to come pick it up that had been canceled,” traveler, Ryan Bachuss said.

Ryan Bauchuss and his family are from Huntsville, but they traveled all the way to Kansas City before heading to Washington, D.C. to see some friends.

“It had the best access to get a direct flight,” Bauchuss said.

After receiving multiple notifications that their flights had been canceled, they were left with no hope of ever being able to depart.

“The Kansas City airport is just crammed and I went up there today to ask them what is our options and she said, well you are looking at no earlier than Thursday getting out of here if you still want to fly,” Bauchuss said.

On Monday, there were 77 flights were canceled at the Kansas City airport, and 64 flights were delayed.

On Monday, there were 11 canceled flights and 15 delayed flights in Little Rock.

“You’ve got the storm causing delays, you’ve got people already having to sit and wait and they are doing their best to get the people out that have been there the longest, and so for those of us who have flights that are a little later, you are less likely to get out the later you fly,” Bauchuss stated.

Buchuss stated that this experience left him shaken for quite some time.

“I don’t that I will fly anywhere for a while because this is just ridiculous for me,” Buachuss said.

Bauchuss reported that there was no availability for car rentals at the airport, so he stated that they were relieved to have their own vehicle so that they could drive to meet their friends.

Another thing that he brought up was that Southwest Airlines stated that it is also because of an inability to staff the planes so that they can fly in and out of the airport.