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Storm cancels flights at Gerald R. Ford airport

Posted at 4:54 AM, Jan 28, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-28 04:55:21-05

KENT COUNTY, Mich. -- Monday's storm is already leading to canceled flights coming to and from Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids.

So far, more than a dozen flights have been canceled Monday, including fights from Chicago, Fort Meyers, Newark, Orlando, and Denver.

The best advice is if you have a flight out of the airport to check the status online before you go.

Alicia Roberts, the marketing coordinator at Gerald R. Ford International says airport staff are hard at work trying to get planes in the air.

“Our ground crews working really hard," Roberts tells FOX 17. "The field maintenance crew is working really hard to keep the runways open. The runways are open and they continue to work hard all week to make sure that they stay open.”

However, she says OSHA limits the amount of time workers can be outside when it's this cold, so staff are required to come inside several times per hour.

“We’re used to weather but we’re not used to this extreme of cold," Roberts says.

Some travelers gave themselves extra time to get to the airport only to have their flights pushed back.

“I left home six hours early to make sure that I wasn’t gonna be slowed down by the snow getting here and then as soon as I got here, I found out that my flight was delayed by a couple hours and then shortly it was delayed by a couple of hours," says Stephanie Radawiec of Lansing.