East Coast Weather Wreaks Havoc, Not at SFO

As weather wreaked havoc in other parts of the country, San Francisco International Airport operations ran Wednesday morning with just a few delays reported going into the New York area.

According to flightaware.com, as of 11 a.m. Wednesday, there had been more 1,000 cancellations throughout the country. About 20 percent of them were in and out of Texas, where whiteout conditions caused accidents on the roadways. From Texas to Alabama, there were reports of 34 tornadoes.

But SFO, with its usual fog and delays, really wasn't too bad on the day after Christmas.
 
Flying from the small town of Cortland in Ohio, Pat Aho said spending this Christmas with her son and his family in Vacaville was more important than ever – it’d be the first time in a very long time. “This is our first Christmas with our son. He’s military, he just retired,” said Aho. “He’s been all over the world and we just wanted to spend a Christmas with him and his wife for a change.”
 
Her son, Mark Aho, was happy to see her but was concerned about his parents’ flight back home.

“It’s very troublesome, I’m hoping there’s no delays. I think they’re supposed to get ten inches of snow in Cleveland where they’re flying into, so we’re hoping for the best.”
 
Patty Lamond was flying back to Washington, D.C. after spending the Christmas break with her family in Stockton, her hometown. Now, flying back and forth from coast to coast is routine, and she’s come to expect weather delays and forced cancellations. “It’s wintertime, so you’re going to have the rain, the fog. Then back East, you get the snow or the icing. What are you going to do? It’s weather.”
 
 
For Lamond, who travels routinely cross-country, flying back and forth facing the possibility of delays is just part of the norm – no big deal. “I have to say though, I’ve been very lucky the last couple of years, haven’t had much of a delay. I’ve been fine.” After a pause she added, “But now that I’ve said that, we might come up and find a delay!”
 
According to SFO spokesman Doug Yakel, from Dec. 19 through Jan. 6, it’s estimated that more than two million travelers will pass in and out of the airport.

Last Friday was the busiest time period with more than 130,000 people arriving at and departing from SFO. The next busiest day is expected to be Friday ahead of New Year’s Eve weekend.
 

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