ORLANDO, Fla. — Many travelers are still trying to get back home to the U.S. after airspace in the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico, was temporarily restricted because of the U.S. military operation in Venezuela Saturday.
Some travelers arriving in Orlando Monday described the scene at Puerto Rican airports as “chaos and mayhem.”
One Orlando woman, who didn’t want to be named, said it took two days and three attempts to get on standby flights to get back home from San Juan.
She said on Friday, she was camping out on a beach in Aguadilla when she saw several military drones and aircraft flying right over her. She shared video with Channel 9.
“So we saw the planes flying, drones flying everywhere,” said a traveler from Orlando.
The next morning, she learned the news of the U.S. military operation in Venezuela, capturing Nicholas Maduro.
The FAA issued a notice early Saturday that it was banning flights from entering the Eastern Caribbean airspace “due to safety-of-flight risk associated with an ongoing military activity.”
It caused havoc in many airports, including San Juan, where videos show where travelers left their luggage stranded.
According to FlightAware, more than 400 flights were canceled Saturday out of San Juan’s airport. 264 of them were in and out of the United States.
Channel 9 producer Casey Wright was on vacation in Puerto Rico and planned to fly back Saturday night, but his flight to Orlando was canceled early that morning.
“We woke up that morning to the flight being canceled immediately. Really no explanation,” Wright said. He later learned that all airports in the Eastern Caribbean were affected.
Even after restrictions were lifted Sunday morning, it has been a scramble for airlines to add flights and rebook flyers.
“They were selling out in seconds. We were trying to book a flight on Tuesday. That one got sold out. Monday got sold out within us purchasing it; like, it was available and when we clicked ”buy" — it was gone,” Wright said.
Wright said JetBlue originally told him and his wife that they wouldn’t be able to fly out until later this week. However, they were eventually able to rebook for Tuesday, as flight schedules in the Caribbean begin to improve and airlines begin to add more flights.
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