HispanicBusiness

Passengers at Orlando International Airport faced scores of canceled flights Monday as Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on airline operations in the Northeastern U.S.

As of Monday morning, 106 flights slated to arrive at Orlando International today and 113 departing flights had been canceled, airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell said. Most of the affected flights were coming or going to the Northeast, including cities like New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington.

President Obama, who was campaigning in Orlando on Sunday, managed to fly out of OIA early Monday on Air Force One, headed back to Washington ahead of the storm.

The Orlando airport provided a safe haven Sunday night for more than two-dozen planes, as airlines flew them out of areas affected by Sandy to safer ground.

According to the flight-tracking website FlightAware.com, 8,962 flights to, from and within the U.S. had been canceled as of 9 a.m. Monday because of Sandy. According to the site: the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was recommending that airlines cancel all flights in and out of the area Monday; operations had ceased in Philadelphia until midday Tuesday; and almost all flights were canceled out of Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington and Baltimore-Washington International Airport.