Airlines Cancel Over 4,400 Us Flights Amid Winter Storm

Airlines had to cancel over 4,400 flights due to a powerful winter storm & cold blast that hit the United States. This disrupted several holiday travels.

Over 4,400 flights were canceled in the two-day period following a strong winter storm that hit the United States. This coincided with the beginning of the holiday season, which some predict will be the busiest.

According to FlightAware, more than 2,350 U.S. flight cancellations were made Thursday, and 2,120 for Friday. 

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Amtrak, a passenger railroad, cancelled dozens of train services through Christmas, disrupting holiday travel by tens of thousands.

Another 8,450 flights were also delayed Thursday, including more than one third of those operated by American Airlines (AAL.O), United Airlines(UAL.O), Southwest Airlines (LUV.N).

Southwest canceled 865 flights on Thursday, which is about one-fifth its total scheduled flights. Another 550 flights were already scrapped for Friday.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Thursday’s winter storm would bring blizzard conditions to the Midwest. Major travel disruptions are expected in Chicago, Detroit, and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

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Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) had cancelled 140 of its 4,400 flights on Thursday and 90 on Friday, according to FlightAware. 

FlightAware warned that “additional cancellations would be necessary Friday as Hurricane Michael continues to impact operations throughout Detroit and the Northeast.”

At 7:30 p.m. ET Thursday (0030 GMT): 25% of departures from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport were canceled and 37% at Chicago Midway were canceled. 27% of Denver flights had also been canceled.

Amtrak announced that it would cancel several dozen train trips between Christmas and the Midwest due to the weather conditions. This includes trains in Michigan and Illinois as well as trains between New York City and Chicago.

Brandon Mattis (24 years old) was in New York to fly to Atlanta, Georgia with his family to celebrate Christmas. He said that his flight was canceled.

“We are trying to search using our phones. Find other routes. Perhaps you could take a bus from Atlanta to here, which will take about 21 hours. That’s really inconvenient. However, we can do whatever we need to get there (is) exactly what we are going to do.”

The Transportation Security Administration reported that it had screened 16.2 million passengers in seven days ending Wednesday. 

This is slightly less than the 16.5 million who were screened in the same time period in 2019.

The holiday season was marred last year by the spread of COVID-19 among staff, which forced airlines to cancel thousands upon flights.

U.S. airlines announced earlier this week that they would waive change fees and fare differentials for passengers traveling in affected areas.