Air travel back to normal

APPLETON - Travel looks to be back to normal on the roads and in the air for the snow-covered Midwest.

Blizzard Brianna practically shut down both area airports Thursday.

Despite clear runways, it still won't be easy to get out of town anytime soon.

Unlike the day before, ticket counters at Outagamie Regional Airport in Greenville were full Friday.

"The blizzard caused us a delay and our flight got canceled," said George Perr of Oshkosh.

Perr and his wife wanted to start their vacation Thursday. But, that didn't happen.

However, being Wisconsinites, they planned accordingly.

"We usually organize it so we get down there a day early if something like this would happen, we'd be prepared for it, so tomorrow is when our cruise leaves," Perr said.

"Those flights are all full going out today, which is great. Operations are back to normal today," explained Airport Marketing Manager Kim Sippola.

Sippola says a few early morning flights were canceled, but by mid-morning everything was back on schedule.

However, she says don't expect to have any elbow room if you book or can book a flight this weekend.

"From now until about Monday, the flights are pretty full," Sippola said. "Holiday travel additionally, Friday and Saturday really they were starting to get full before the snow storm but those extra seats really filled-up with the overage of the people that didn't make it out."

Austin Straubel Airport also saw early morning flight cancellations. However, scheduling did eventually return to normal.

Both airports expect to see the majority of holiday travelers this weekend.

AAA expects more than 100,000 people in Wisconsin to travel by air the next few days. Many more will be on the road., about 1.6 million.