BOISE, Idaho — Hundreds of flights are delayed across the country due to the FAA's grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes, with weather across the West also impacting some local travelers.
You can check the status of flights out of the Boise Airport at iflyboise.com.
- FAA grounded all Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes after a part fell off an Alaska Airlines flight, causing widespread cancellations.
- Passengers in Boise faced a prolonged flight delay due to weather, maintenance, and crew overwork, causing an over 19-hour delay.
- Winter weather in Boise could add to flight disruptions for more travelers in the area.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
Chelsey Theriac was supposed to be home in Phoenix by 8:30 Sunday night, but nearly 19 hours later, she was still stuck at the Boise airport.
"No compensation, no hotels, no travel; it was just, 'Well, you can stay here and get a flight in the morning," says Theriac.
The delays likely had a domino effect.
The Utah-based crew informed passengers that weather was posing problems at the start of their day, but that was just the beginning.
“They said there was something that needed to be fixed that would take like 10-15 minutes of paperwork… which took like 30 more minutes," says Theriac.
"They just kept saying, 'We'll get going here in a few moments," says Theriac.
Hours later, the plane needed to be de-iced, but then the crew was over their allotted work time, so passengers were taken back to an empty airport.
“They marked us as departed and shut the airport down," says Theriac.
The airport says that mix-up is on the airline, but Boiseans are also being impacted by the FAA's decision to ground all Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes. This decision came after a piece of a plane fell off mid-flight on an Alaska Airlines plane with 171 passengers on board, traveling from Portland to Ontario, California.
After experiencing some problems with a maintenance flight, Alaska specifically took the plane off Hawaii routes, and travelers have faced cancellations, impacting people like our Scott Dorval, who is stranded in Maui until further notice.
Meanwhile, with active winter weather on the way this week in Boise, Chelsey's flight likely isn't going to be the only one impacted.
“I'm missing work because... it's just... it's awful," says Theriac.
