Airlines scramble after winter storm cancels and delays thousands of flights
A winter storm left many airlines scrambling to catch up after thousands of flights were canceled or delayed.
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Travelers hoping to catch a flight somewhere in the U.S. likely experienced a delay or cancelation of some type on Monday, with over 5,000 cancelations and 18,000 delays on the books, according to reports.
Flight tracking website FlightAware.com reported 18,068 flight delays on Monday, with 7,143 of those delays being associated with flights within, into, or out of the U.S.
Hundreds of luggage are seen at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) due to airline cancelations, in San Francisco, California, United States on December 23, 2022. Airlines cancel about 5,000 U.S. flights Friday amid fierce winter storms. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The site also reported a total of 5,623 cancelations, with 3,816 taking place within, into or out of the U.S.
MORE THAN 2,300 FLIGHTS CANCELED ACROSS US ON CHRISTMAS DAY AMID BRUTAL WINTER STORM
Southwest Airlines reported the largest number of cancelations of the day, with a total of 2,817 as of 7:30 p.m. The airline also reported the highest number of delays, at 723.
The delays are, for the most part, the result of extreme winter weather that swept across the U.S. when Winter Storm Elliot left behind a mess of snow, leaving some stranded on the roads, and many in their homes.
American Airlines plane is de-iced as high winds whip around 7.5 inches of new snow at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. Temperatures plunged far and fast Thursday as a winter storm formed ahead of Christmas weekend, (David Joles/Star Tribune via AP / AP Images)
Several other airlines experienced major delays across the board.
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CANCEL MORE THAN HALF OF FLIGHTS BECAUSE OF WINTER WEATHER
United reported 929 flight delays, or 35% of its published flights, and Delta reported 756 flight delays, or 26%.
Jet Blue reported 525 delays, Frontier 192 delays, Spirit 384 delays and Alaska Airlines 231 delays.
Travelers make their way through a security line at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 23, 2022. - A historic and brutal winter storm put some 240 million Americans under severe weather warnings Friday as the US faced h ( Photo by Joseph Prezioso via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Delta reported the third-highest number of cancelations with 265, with China Eastern coming in second with 607 canceled flights.
HOLIDAY TRAVEL DISRUPTIONS: AIRLINES ISSUE WAIVERS AHEAD OF WINTER STORM
Flight Aware also lists the airports seeing the most cancelations and delays, with Denver International (DEN) reporting 221 canceled flights and 256 delayed.
Harry Reid International in Las Vegas reportedly had 159 canceled flights and 122 delayed flights, and Chicago Midway reported 151 canceled flights and 49 delayed flights.
Delta Air Lines issued a press release on Monday, updating customers on the conditions and operations.
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"Airports across the system have seen improved conditions which have allowed irregular operations recovery and a gradual return to normal operations," the release read. "A component of this recovery included repositioning aircraft and crews. While the build of the severe weather has passed, some cancelations subsisted through Monday afternoon due to damage to airport infrastructure, frozen equipment, and continued restrictions on some otherwise routine ground operations."