Weather, virus keeping more flights grounded
Wintry weather combined with the pandemic to frustrate air travelers whose return flights home from the holidays were canceled or delayed in the first days of the new year.
More than 2,500 U.S. flights and over 4,100 worldwide were grounded Sunday, according to tracking service FlightAware.
That followed Saturday’s mass cancellations of more than 2,700 U.S. flights and over 4,700 worldwide. Saturday’s single-day U.S. toll was the highest since just before Christmas, when airlines began blaming staffing shortages on increasing COVID-19 infections among crews.
A winter storm that hit the Midwest on Saturday made Chicago the worst place in the country for travelers throughout the weekend as the region’s airports continued to recover Sunday. About a quarter of all flights at O’Hare Airport were canceled Sunday.
Southwest Airlines said it is working to help customers affected by about 400 flights canceled around the country Sunday, about 11% of its schedule. The airline said it anticipates even more challenges to come as the storm system pushes into the Eastern seaboard.
Delta Air Lines said Sunday that it was issuing a travel waiver for planned flights this week out of mid-Atlantic airports in Baltimore and Washington in preparation for the system.
American Airlines said most of Sunday’s canceled flights had been canceled ahead of time to avoid last-minute disruptions at the airport.
SkyWest, a regional carrier that operates flights under the names American Eagle, Delta Connection and United Express, grounded nearly 500 flights Sunday, about 20% of its schedule, according to FlightAware.