Airport Schedule Gets Back On Track

Raleigh-Durham International Airport

on Thursday, the terminals were bustling on the inside.

A lot of people waited in lines and mingled as they made plans to depart the Triangle for parts drier and warmer.

For most of the day Thursday, all the runways were open, and the airport was at full staff to accommodate the many travelers who had been stranded since the night before.

All flights out had been canceled Wednesday night and again early Thursday morning. But planes had begun to land and take off by 10 a.m. Thursday, and RDU spokesperson Mindy Hamlin said she expected the airport schedule to be back on track by mid-afternoon.

Many travelers apparently were eager to leave. Hamlin estimated that 50 or 60 people chose to spend Wednesday night at the airport in order to have a prime position in line when tickets began to be re-distributed and flights re-routed Thursday morning.

One local traveler had a wild time just getting to RDU in the first place Wednesday night.

"We drove up here in the ice," she said. "We did a 360 on the highway, spinning all around. My son got sick. Then we we lost our power at 11:30 p.m. Then we rushed up here, hoping that we could get a flight out."

Hamlin recommended that people who are flying out of RDU anytime in the next couple of days continue to call the airport ahead of time to check on possible delays.