First flights from Albany to Tampa, Orlando after Milton
COLONIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — From the Empire State to the Sunshine State, folks in the Capital Region whose travel plans were impacted by Hurricane Milton were happy to be on some of the first flights from Albany to Tampa and Orlando, on Friday.
Southwest 4914 to Tampa, on time.
“We were supposed to leave last night. We backed it up one day just to make sure it looked like the hurricane would be out to sea....And it really didn't look like it was going to impact the area that we're going to" said Dan Wilber. He was headed from Otsego County to Tampa.
JetBlue 119 to Orlando, on time.
“My family at home boarded up my house. They called me today and said everything's all the boards are down all the shutters however no power” said Carol Stallings. She was headed home to Malabar, FL via Orlando airport.
No matter the airline, no matter the destination, the board at Albany International brought Central Florida travelers good news. Cameron and his family from Hudson Falls were headed to their timeshare in Kissimmee, outside Orlando.
“...Hang around play some golf enjoy the warm weather,” said Cameron. “I've never been there right after Hurricane so all new to me" the Washington County teen added.
Meanwhile, the Mattisons stayed with relatives in Utica, escaping Milton's wrath in Siesta Key, near Tampa.
Gianna Mattison: "Our parents stayed back because my dad does hurricane relief work so we heard from them a little bit, but not much I heard from my mom today but I didn't hear from her all day yesterday"
Miles Mattison: "We just know we're out of power!"
Eric Mattison: "Yeah, we’re out of power."
Halfway to high noon, the Mattisons headed up for the Upstate skies. NEWS10 captured their plane taking off. Soon after, flight tracker radar showed they were on their way to Tampa. More were scheduled to depart for Central Florida later Friday evening and into the weekend.