Weekend Weather Causes Massive MCO Cancellations
After tornado watches, strong thunderstorms and a massive cold front abrasively swept through the Orlando area yesterday, Orlando International Airport (MCO) posted hundreds of flight cancellations and delays. With Spring Break travelers already filling the airport well past the number of daily travelers that the airport was initially designed for, airlines struggled to get passengers rescheduled with issues mounting throughout the day today.
MickeyBlogger Sarah Phillips snapped a noted a number of issues yesterday with Southwest flight trying to get out of MCO. Many of those impacted by yesterday’s challenges continued to work toward solutions with airlines throughout Sunday.


Photo: Fortune
“They’ve been in line since almost four in the morning trying to get some answers, trying to get us a flight out. Looks like we can’t get out of here till maybe Tuesday!” said Milwaukee MCO traveler Amy Shaw in an article published by Fox 35 today. According to the article, tensions continued to rise over the course of the day to the point that security even started closely monitoring ticketing lines for issues.
Weather Alert ⛈️ Due to thunderstorms throughout the day, airline ops may be impacted with flight delays/cancellations and baggage delivery delays. Please check with your airline directly for any updates in regards to their ops. For airport delays, visit: https://t.co/vm0yMYHkcv https://t.co/NNiIKDuWyp
— Orlando International Airport (@MCO) March 12, 2022
Not only did yesterday’s local thunderstorms disrupt service throughout the airport but also a large system of winter storms that spanned almost the entire east coast reeked havoc on flight schedules.
Widespread hazards are in effect today across the Eastern U.S. as a powerful cold front and low pressure system plow through the region. The hazards include winter storm warnings, widespread wind advisories and currently a tornado watch in effect across Florida until 11am ET. pic.twitter.com/DTcsg44tf5
— National Weather Service (@NWS) March 12, 2022
With wait times well above normal with the abundance of travelers, those using MCO in the near future definitely want to leave plenty of time to handle all of their pre-flight logistics, especially on challenging weather days.