Airport Woes in Ft. Lauderdale

Florida has been trying to keep up with rising airport traffic for years (Florida Aviation Strategic Plan).  And the travel business has certainly been good to legendary Spring Break and beach fun town, Ft. Lauderdale.  With the booming Caribbean cruise business, which accounts for 60% of the North American cruise business, Ft. Lauderdale has blossomed into major cruise departure city, with cruise traffic growing steadily at a rate of 500,000 passengers each year.  With this success has come the discount air carriers.  The result is a doubling of the air passengers at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in the last nine years.  They had nearly 21,000,000 passengers in 2004, and the place just can't keep up.  This winter Ft. Lauderdale Int'l Airport posted 5,700 capacity-related delays, up from a mere 1,500 the previous winter.  The airport is studying up for an additional runway, but in the meantime, expect wrinkles in your trip to or through Ft. Lauderdale.