As thousands of flights have been canceled across the country due to severe winter weather, many Americans are now unable to spend the holidays with their families.
Shane Phillips is one of those who will be spending Christmas alone this year, due to a canceled flight.
Phillips told CNN he was set to fly from Los Angeles to Seattle to visit family, but when he woke up Friday morning his Alaska Airlines flight had been canceled.
It would have been Phillips’ first time back to Washington state since before the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I would say they’re upset,” he said of his family. “But they’re the ones experiencing the crazy weather, so they understand,” he said.
Phillips says he feels mostly disappointment but not a lot of surprise.
“I knew the weather was supposed to be bad, but I was hoping I’d get in before the freezing rain hit,” he said.
Phillips’ family lives about two hours north of Seattle, so if he did make it to the airport, he says he could’ve been stranded.
“They totally shut down transit, so I’m not sure how I would’ve left the airport,” Phillips said.
Other airlines had flights available for Saturday, but Phillips said they were priced at $1,000 one-way, “which is just too much,” he said.
“I still wish I was there,” Phillip said, adding that he will “just have to try and visit another time of year.”
Phillips says he will make the best of spending Christmas alone – as he’s now going to attend a friend’s holiday party he would have missed if he’d made it to Seattle.
