Flight cancellations continue
Winter weather, ongoing staffing issues frustrate travelers
A winter storm moving into the midatlantic combined with the pandemic to continue frustrating air travelers whose return flights home from the holidays were canceled or delayed in the first few days of the new year.
More than 1,900 U.S. flights and more than 3,300 worldwide were grounded as of early Monday, according to tracking service Flightaware.
That follows Sunday’s cancellations of more than 2,700 U.S. flights, and more than 4,400 worldwide. And on Saturday more than 2,700 U.S. flights and more than 4,700 worldwide were canceled.
A winter storm was expected to bring as much as 10 inches of snow for the District of Columbia, northern Virginia and central Maryland through Monday afternoon.
In addition to cancellations, Monday saw more than 5,000 flight delays.
Saturday’s single-day U.S. toll of grounded flights 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. About a quarter of all flights at O’hare Airport were canceled Sunday.
Denver’s airport also faced significant disruptions.
In Michigan, the authority that runs Detroit International Airport said crews were working around the clock to remove snow and maintain the airfield. Atlanta’s airport authority advised travelers to arrive earlier than usual because of passenger volume, potential weather issues and pandemic-fueled staffing shortages that could make it take longer to get through security gates.
And thousands of miles from the closest snowstorms, Hawaiian Airlines said it had to cancel several flights between islands and across the Pacific because of to staffing shortages.
Southwest Airlines said it was working to help customers affected by about 400 flights canceled around the country Sunday, about 11% of its schedule. The Dallas-based airline anticipated even more operational challenges to come as the storm system pushed into the Eastern Seaboard.
Delta Air Lines said Sunday it was issuing a travel waiver for planned flights this week out of mid-atlantic airports in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., in preparation for expected winter weather.
American Airlines said most of Sunday’s canceled flights had been canceled ahead of time to avoid lastminute disruptions at the airport.
Skywest, a regional carrier that operates flights under the names American Eagle, Delta Connection and United Express, grounded more than 500 flights Sunday, about 20% of its schedule, according to Flightaware.
Airlines have said they are taking steps to reduce cancellations caused by workers affected by the pandemic. United is offering to pay pilots triple or more of their usual wages for picking up open flights through most of January. Spirit Airlines reached a deal with the Association of Flight Attendants for double pay for cabin crews through Tuesday, a union spokesperson said.
Airlines hope that extra pay and reduced schedules will get them through the holiday crush and into the heart of January, when travel demand usually drops off. The seasonal decline could be sharper than normal this year because most business travelers are still grounded.