CHARLOTTE, N.C.–Marty Taylor learned the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished. After helping a friend move to San Antonio over the weekend, he says his flight home to Atlanta on Monday was delayed or cancelled eight times, and he’d been stranded in Charlotte ever since. “I fell asleep here for about an hour or two. Other than that, I’ve been up since five o’clock. Monday morning,” said the Danielsville, Georgia resident.
Taylor is one of the many passengers affected by the more than 80 delays and cancellations to Atlanta and other cities in the Deep South Wednesday afternoon after a “once in a generation” snow storm. “I have a crook in my neck. I’ve been waiting. I’m starving. Everything here is expensive. I actually fell on some ice outside and almost twisted my ankle so it’s a lot,” said Union, South Carolina resident Jasmine Gore.
At a media briefing Wednesday, the city said there were no major delays, cots were distributed to passengers, and some airport concessions extended hours,”No. Not true at all,” said Taylor. Taylor said he never saw any of those cots and the only open concession he could find was a Starbucks.
All he got from Delta, he says, was a bag of Goldfish crackers. No food or hotel vouchers, he was told, because his experience was a result of weather. Taylor’s fiance drove from Georgia to pick him up. He hopes to return home by Thursday morning, three days behind schedule. “I will definitely from now on pay extra to make sure I don’t come into Charlotte,” said Taylor.
A TSA spokesman told WCCB that because Taylor left the secure area of the airport to check on a rental car and didn’t get a gate pass from Delta, he was not allowed to pass through a security checkpoint on Thursday night ahead of his 7 a.m. Wednesday flight.
A Charlotte City spokesperson said: “In regards to the distribution of cots, all that were on hand were distributed. Numerous announcements were made to passengers that cots were being distributed and where within the terminal they were being distributed. Efforts were also made to encourage passengers to take the cots. The D Concourse Food Court remained open, Burger King in the Atrium was open and two Starbucks remained open.”
