Country's wintry weather putting a kink in air travel plans

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The country's collective wintry weather is creating some kinks in travel plans -- and even airline passengers in Milwaukee are caught in the mess.

Despite the bitter cold temperatures outside, Mitchell International Airport is rocking with activity.

"There are some short delays, there are some lengthy delays, there are some flights leaving or arriving on time. So it's kind of a mixed bag," said Airport spokesperson Pat Rowe.

Rowe says there were several dozen flight delays and cancellations on Monday. She said those were largely due to weather in other parts of the country.

"There's a lot of harsh weather out east and a lot of snow and storms and so on and there definitely is a domino effect to this weather system," said Rowe.

DeAnna Turcotte and Wayne Harris found themselves right in the domino's path. They've been visiting family in Wisconsin for a couple of weeks -- and are trying to get back to Portland. But their delayed departure time means...

"We'll miss our flight our connecting flight in Denver to Portland. So we're not quite sure if we're going to get stuck either in Denver or if we can just stay here a couple of days till everybody gets cleared away," said Turcotte.

While Rowe says Wisconsin's deep chill isn't behind the flight delays, it can have an effect in other ways.

"The cold weather effects the ground vehicles that service the planes. And so it can be a struggle to keep the tugs running to keep the fueling trucks running," said Rowe.

Other travelers might return to find their car has had too much of the cold. If you're in one of the airport parking lots, Rowe said the airport has on-site, free support to help those with dead batteries.