—————————————————— Winter Blas Continues to Strand Passengers Tuesday at Houston Airports | Houston Press

Travel

Massive Lines Tuesday Morning For Those Hoping to Fly Out of George Bush

The security line wait at Terminal C at George Bush early Tuesday.
The security line wait at Terminal C at George Bush early Tuesday. Photo by Reggie Mathalone

The Arctic weather that arrived in the Houston area has continued to strand passengers at Houston's airports for a second day Tuesday.

Freelance photographer Reggie Mathalone was scheduled to fly out of George Bush early Tuesday morning and when he arrived he had the longest wait he's ever experienced.

"At 6:40am the Terminal C security line was wrapped around the baggage claim escalator twice and snaked around the entire room before eventually finding its way to the roped official security line," he said. " It took me about an hour and forty minutes to get from the beginning of the line to the metal detector."

Mathalone said airport personnel were handling the surge very well under the circumstances, but the sheer volume of people trying to get out of town made of extended waits.

On Monday there were hundreds of flights canceled or delayed at George Bush and Hobby airports. In addition, United Airlines flights were ordered grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration for several hours because of freezing rain.

A check of fly2houston.com  this morning shows several flights across all airlines going out three or more hours late with some cancellations and departures including some on-time departures.  Flight Aware shows 556 cancellations at George Bush in the last 24 hours.  Total cancellations today are 189 at Bush and 19 at Hobby. 
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Margaret Downing is the editor-in-chief who oversees the Houston Press newsroom and its online publication. She frequently writes on a wide range of subjects.
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