Thousands of United Airlines flights have been delayed or canceled this week as the airline struggled with bad weather and staffing problems.
While several airlines have seen issues, none have been harder hit than United as many travelers found out at San Francisco International Airport Thursday.
People were giving up on their original plans and were trying to salvage what they could -- including getting their luggage back.
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United has almost 400 flights canceled nationwide by 12 p.m. Thursday, adding to nearly 3,000 lost since Saturday.
Shannon Kritzer’s family flew in from Southern California for a connecting flight to Atlanta Wednesday and now, they just want their luggage.
“Even at one point we were standing in line trying to wait and one of the United front desk people just walked off, and didn’t come back,” said the Arcadia resident. “We were all just in line. So we came down to look for our luggage and realized that wasn’t going to happen.”
Others had similar experiences during flight delays Wednesday.
“I guess they were waiting for a flight attendant and then it just didn’t happen so they canceled it,” said Krista Feldman of San Francisco who was left looking for her luggage. “I thought I’ll just come back, but it’s kind of mayhem here now.”
But while the nationwide picture is still pretty bad, there were fewer delays and cancellations at SFO.
In a statement, United said it is seeing continued meaningful improvement and expects delays and cancellations to decline into the busy holiday travel days ahead. But added it is still keeping a close eye on weather conditions in Denver and Chicago Thursday.
Fewer delays would help since triple a estimates a record breaking 50.7 million people will travel over the next few days, including 5.6 million in California.
“We’re anticipating over 155,000 passengers in and out of SFO,” said airport spokesperson Doug Yakel. “That is nearly back at pre-pandemic levels.”
Some stranded travelers, like John Ringnall, say “good luck.”
“It’s a nightmare to tell you the truth,” he said. “There’s no way around it.”
Time and weather will tell, but SFO said those that are going to travel should arrive early and remember parking will be scarce. They recommend using public transit, rideshare or to reserve a parking space on the SFO website.
