Onslaught of cancellations hits Philadelphia International Airport as Tropical Storm Debby wreaks havoc in Florida

Continued delays and cancellations for a second day have caused chaos for thousands of fliers stranded at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) Sunday and Monday due to what’s been downgraded to Tropical Storm Debby.

Heather Redfern, a spokesperson for the airport, said there had been 99 cancellations and 177 delays of planes coming into or flying out of PHL as of 5 p.m. Most of those disruptions were for flights to Philadelphia. Top impacted locations were Orlando, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami, as Debbie approached Florida Sunday and made landfall Monday.

Disruptions could ripple for several days given that Debby is expected to stall and slowly carve a path of destruction through Georgia and South Carolina with potentially historic rainfall. PHL has as many as three or four flights a day routinely scheduled each for Savannah and Charleston.

“I know the airlines will be keeping an eye on that,” Redfern said, “and we’ll be keeping an eye out ourselves.”

The delays come at a busy time for PHL, Redfern noted. Air travel this summer was expected to be higher than in 2019, which was a record year.

“We are looking at 8% higher than 2019,” she said. “It’s been busy all summer long and August has been a very busy travel month.”

PHL serves as a hub for American Airlines, which had to cancel 68 flights in or out of Philly, equating to 18% of its daily flights, Redfern said, as of early afternoon. However, it was not clear how many of those were due to the storm.

“We tell our passengers that they really need to pay attention to the weather not just here, but where they are going, and to stay in touch with their airlines through apps and text alerts,” she said.

Amanda Dorsey of Wilmington was one of those travelers caught in the delays. She was scheduled to fly American Airlines into Philadelphia Sunday afternoon from Lynchburg, Va., but learned in the early morning hours that her connecting flight would have to rerouted as Hurricane Debby swirled into Florida.

She scrambled overnight, canceled her flight, and rebooked another, finally arriving in Philly 11 p.m. Sunday.

“The baggage claim was overflowing with luggage covering the floor, and from wall to wall,” Dorsey said, noting that the luggage was left unattended and not monitored by airport or airline staff. “Many passengers were in distress while others cried for joy when they found their belongings and could go home. This experience was very frustrating and scary.”

Debby, which transformed into a Category 1 hurricane overnight, and was downgraded Monday to a tropical storm, is expected to cause catastrophic flooding as it snakes its way up from Florida’s Big Bend region — north of Tampa — into Georgia and South Carolina. The storm recorded sustained winds of 80 mph when it made landfall near Steinhatchee, Fla., at around 7 a.m. Monday and is expected to blanket the regions in its path with up to 18 inches of rain.

The Philadelphia region can also expect some tough weather conditions, according to a thread on X from the National Weather Service at Mount Holly. The city is at moderate risk of excessive rainfall and a flood watch for Tuesday as the moisture associated with Hurricane Debby could “result in heavy tropical downpours.”