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Airport Officials: Be Patient With Delays

By Jenn Bernstein

PHILADELPHIA (CBS)--Passengers checking into their flights at Philadelphia International Airport Wednesday morning were happy to see their flights were running smoothly.

The busiest travel day of the year began with virtually no delays for travelers.

Many didn't take any chances though, and were diligent about checking before they left.

"I've had e-mails coming to my phone, I've been on my iPad, I've been watching the news," said Bernadette McCullough as she headed to check into her on-time flight.

But as the morning rush picked up, the lines grew, and so did the weather-related delays.

The Barraco family was headed to Florida, but their flight into Orlando wasn't leaving on time.

"We had checked before we left.  We live about an hour away and the flight was on time so we headed out and just as we were pulling in we got the text that it's an hour delay," said Cheryl Barraco.

Airport officials monitored the Northeast hub airports.

Philadelphia experienced both arrival and departure delays.

The arrival delays averaged an hour and fifty minutes.

An estimated 40 flights were canceled by 9 a.m.

"This is the morning we were not hoping for but predicted that we were going to have some weather-related delays," said Airport Spokesperson Victoria Lupica.

For some though, the delays didn't make a difference since there were other things to be "thankful for" on Thanksgiving Eve.

"I don't really care…I just like missing school," said traveler Matt Barraco.

The airport is expecting 90-100 thousand people to pass through Wednesday.

Airport officials believe people will make it to their destinations before Thanksgiving, but may have to be patient with the delays.

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