Augusta couple shares travel nightmare after being stranded

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - We’ve all seen photos and videos of people stranded by airport disasters across the country over Christmas weekend.

Now we’re hearing from a local couple that was stuck in Upstate New York.

On Dec. 21, Sharice Williams and her husband flew out for an anniversary trip she says she’ll never forget, but not for the reason she’d expected.

“We agreed to go ahead with the cancellation. That day came. It got canceled again. That’s when I realized it wasn’t a weather issue. Something else was going on,” said

What was supposed to be a four-day trip to Buffalo, New York, quickly turned into an eight-day trip after their Southwest Airlines flight was canceled twice, and they had spent more than $2,000 to get back home.

“I’m a panicker. So I was panicking, and I was like, are we ever going to get home or are we going to run out of money? What’s going on,” she asked.

Williams and her husband had to spend the night at the Toronto airport where they flew out on a Delta flight the morning of Dec. 30.

She says if this had been years ago, the situation would have been completely different.

“We had resources to try to obtain those, you know, that money. But what about the people that couldn’t? The people that had to stay in the airport? Like if this were me a long time ago, I would be still sitting in airport right now,” she said.

She says she hasn’t had any contact with Southwest Airlines since her flight was canceled and she made a complaint a few days ago. She’s just happy to be back home in Augusta in time for the new year.

“Oh, it feels good. When we touched down in Atlanta, I was like, ‘thank you, God’,” she said.

The CEO of Southwest Airlines Bob Jones has issued an apology for the “giant puzzle” he says is taking the company several days to solve. He also stated the company will be offering refunds and covering expenses for customers who were impacted by the cancellations.

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