Airlines canceled 2,000 flights for today, Sunday Jan-16 as a powerful winter storm is set to hit the US East Coast on a holiday weekend.
(UNITED STATES – Agencies) – Nearly 90% of flights out of Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, a hub for American Airlines, were canceled, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. In addition, the airline preemptively canceled 1,100 Sunday flights on its mainline and regional operations after canceling 90 on Saturday.
“This weekend’s winter storm is expected to have a significant impact on our operation, especially at Charlotte International Airport (CLT),” American Airlines said in a statement. The airline also issued a travel advisory allowing customers affected by the weather to rebook flights free of charge.
According to the National Weather Service, nearly 74 million people were under winter weather alerts Saturday night. A massive storm system is approaching the eastern United States from the Midwest and is expected to form ice in Georgia, Virginia, and the Carolinas as of today, Sunday, January 16. As a result, the governors of those states have declared emergencies.
According to FlightAware, American is not the only airline canceling flights. On Saturday, January 15, Southwest canceled 164 flights, Delta Air Lines canceled 153 flights.
Other airports in the Southeast also faced significant cancellations Sunday, with Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina canceling more than half, or 74, of its flights that day. In addition, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport canceled 19%, or 155, of its flights on Sunday.
The winter weather and surges caused by the Omicron variant have canceled 20,000 flights in the U.S. during a busy holiday season. As travel increased, staff cutbacks also left airlines with fewer employees than before the pandemic.
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