Ike affecting travelers in OKC

By Dave Jordan, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Hurricane Ike is already inconveniencing hundreds of travelers and the impact is being felt in Oklahoma City.

American, Delta and Southwest Airlines have all cancelled flights into Houston Friday night, hours before the city shut down both of its airports.

Now, Will Rogers Airport stands ready to accept flights that may be diverted to Oklahoma City because of Hurricane Ike.

There were only a handful of flight cancellations and delays in the metro that were directly caused by Ike, but Darryl Beasley didn't take any chances.

"We looked at the weather and we decided we probably needed to change our flight just in case there were some issues," Beasley said.

Darryl was slated for Austin on Saturday and connecting through Dallas. Mark Kranenburg, who worked for Will Rogers Airport, said it was a good idea for Darryl to change his flight.

"We may have some weather diversions out of Dallas-Fort Worth airport tomorrow because we're a divert airport for them when they get bad weather," Kranenburg said.

Plans are already underway.

"I have been contacted by the station manager here in Oklahoma City with American Airlines to be ready," Kranenburg said.

American, Continental, and Southwest will re-assess their situation on Saturday night to decide whether to resume flights. All of that depends on what happens over the weekend with Hurricane Ike.