Delays and Cancellations Snarl PDX as Hundreds Stay the Night in Airport

Almost exactly two months ago, Valerie Brown couldn’t get on her Southwest Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Portland for Christmas because of wintery weather.

Now, Brown can’t leave for the same reason.

Brown is one of as many as 1,000 passengers who stayed the night in Portland International Airport Wednesday because of flight delays or cancellations. And with 130 flights already canceled Thursday and more potentially to come, hundreds are likely staying there tonight, as well.

“The last 24 hours have been crazy,” Brown said, sitting on a vinyl couch that served as her bed for the one-and-a-half hours of sleep she got.

Historic amounts of snow hit the Portland area Wednesday, snarling traffic, causing wrecks and closing schools. Nearly 11 inches fell on the airport, the second-highest total on record.

By Thursday morning the airport’s runways were clear, Port of Portland spokesperson Kama Simonds said. But that’s not necessarily enough to get all the planes back to running on time, she said. Some Thursday flights have been canceled or delayed because the planes didn’t arrive Wednesday. In other cases, airlines might not have the staff necessary to de-ice their planes. And airlines also have to take in the full, national picture and consider conditions at some other cities also facing severe winter weather.

About a third of Thursday’s flights at Portland have been canceled, Simonds said. According to the airport’s departures website, that includes every flight with Southwest Airlines.

Brown, who was born and raised in the Portland area and now lives in Las Vegas, was in town for a work trip that she decided to extend to make up for the failed Christmas trip, which Southwest Airlines canceled due to winter weather at the time. Her flight back to Las Vegas was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. By the time she got to the airport, every 10 minutes or so she saw that the flight was delayed more and more, until finally it was canceled. She rebooked for the next available flight, Friday afternoon.

Returning to her parents’ Tualatin home wasn’t possible, with Uber asking about $220 for the ride, and she didn’t want to spend money trying to get to a hotel, either. With about 28 hours left before her flight, Brown did find one silver lining about the situation as she sat looking out onto the tarmac.

“I have a great view. I get to watch the snow clouds,” said Brown, 48. “I’m not gonna lie, it’s pretty.”

Later in the day, Brown’s parents drove out to the airport and took their daughter back to her childhood home.

Sitting near Brown was Cordelia Callahan, 21, who was waiting with her mother to go home to Indiana after a long trip to visit family and attend her grandmother’s memorial. Callahan got on their plane last night and waited hours until they were told to get off because the Southwest Airlines flight was canceled. Her aunt tried to come get them at the airport but was rear-ended soon after pulling out of her driveway, Callahan said, so they opted to stay at the airport.

After nearly three weeks away from home, Callahan said she misses her cat and her father and is upset she had to cancel a homecoming party with her friends.

“Luckily, we found two cushion benches,” Callahan said. “Right next to each other.”

Elena Weber, 79, has been at the airport since 1 p.m. Wednesday. After learning her flight to visit friends in Orange County had been canceled, Weber said she couldn’t book a room at any nearby hotels because they sold out. Her rebooked flight Thursday has also been canceled and she’s not sure how she’ll get back home.

“You would be amazed at how well people are handling it,” she said.

Weber considers herself fortunate. “I got a real comfortable chair with a footstool,” she said, adding that a nearby stranded traveler is watching her belongings, and vice versa, when bathroom breaks are necessary.

Most restaurants at the airport did not open Thursday morning because employees could not make it work, with a notable exception.

“The coffee roaster place had the longest line,” she said, “and it was worth it.”