Stranded passengers at Chattanooga Airport face holiday travel nightmare Saturday

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Many holiday travelers have already returned back home, but that is not the case for a group of passengers whose plane was diverted to the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport.

What should have been a less than one hour flight has become multiple days of uncertainty and growing frustration.

Rodger Voltin is one of the passengers stranded at the airport since Friday with no luggage and nowhere else to go.

“I just go back to the word unconscionable, because it’s inhumane, especially during the holidays, to be treating people this way,” Voltin said.

The trip was supposed to be a direct flight from Atlanta to Columbus, Georgia and was scheduled to depart at 4:25 p.m. Saturday, after it was delayed again from 9:59 p.m. Friday, according to FlightAware.

“We have passengers here that has sick loved ones in the hospital that are not able to go support them,” Voltin said. “We have others that have holiday plans.”

The Delta Airlines flight has now been rescheduled for an 11:05 a.m. Sunday departure, according to FlightAware.

“Their go to response is, ‘There’s nothing we can do about the weather,'” Voltin said.

FlightAware’s ‘Flight Tracker’ shows recent weather updates for outgoing flights, but Voltin says his frustration is not with the weather, it is that he cannot access his belongings.

Voltin was not the only one on the plane feeling discouraged.

Tommy Moore and his wife are on the same flight, but they are not only worried for themselves.

“We came from Italy, and we’ve been traveling going on 36 hours so far,” Moore said. “So this delayed flight, we’re trying to get back home. [My wife is] pregnant as well.”

Moore said he and his wife just want to get their belongings and find a hotel or rental car.

After speaking with us, Voltin said he was removed from the flight by the pilot, and will now take an Uber back to Atlanta to hopefully find a way home.

We reached out to the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport for more details on what happened.

We will update this story once we hear back.

This is a developing story. Depend on us to keep you posted.