ROCKFORD, Mich. — Almost a year and a half in the making, the Rockford High School Marching Band is now just days away from a once-in-a-lifetime trip: marching in the 2023 Rose Parade in Pasadena, California.
But now, mass flight cancellations following the recent winter storm are affecting the band's travel plans as one of their three flights have been canceled. On Tuesday, more than 60% of flights from Southwest Airlines were canceled and the airline warned that in the days ahead it would operate at just over a third of its usual schedule.
By comparison, American, United, Delta and JetBlue suffered cancellation rates of between none and 2% by Tuesday.
However, just hours after learning the flight had been cancelled, Rockford High School Director of Bands Brian Phillips says a solution was quickly reached.
Originally, the plan was to bus the band to Chicago's Midway and O'Hare airports for three separate flights, two of which were out of Midway and one out of O'Hare.
Now, the two groups headed to Midway are flying out of Grand Rapids on a chartered flight.
Phillips tells FOX 17 that this is a "huge relief" and is thankful the tour company could come to a solution so quickly, especially amidst all of the other cancellations.
This isn't the first time that the Rockford band program has performed on a national stage. In 2017, the band performed in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Plus, 2022 marked their fifth consecutive state title through the Michigan Competing Band Association.
The nationally televised 5.5 mile Rose Parade starts at 11a.m. on Monday, Jan. 2.
Rockford will march 28th out of the 80 groups selected to perform in the parade.
