Planes on the tarmac during a snowstorm at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, United States, Monday, January 6, 2025.
Ting Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Airlines canceled nearly 13,000 flights in the United States this weekend as a massive winter storm swept across the country, bringing heavy snow, ice and sleet, followed by bitter cold.
Nearly 3,900 flights were canceled Saturday, according to FlightAware flight tracker. Most of Saturday’s cancellations were at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, with about 1,400 flights canceled, and at Dallas Love Field, with 190 cancellations, the majority of each airport’s schedule.
American airlinesbased in Fort Worth, Texas, had canceled 982 flights as of Saturday, or about a third of its main schedule, and Southwest Airlines had canceled 572 flights, or 20%, according to FlightAware.
Flight cancellations in the United States more than doubled to more than 8,800 on Sunday, as the storm is expected to hit the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States. By Saturday afternoon, most flights from Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina to Portland, Maine, had been canceled. Major air hubs were affected as far away as Atlanta, where Delta Airlines is based.
More than 87% of Sunday flights were canceled at New York’s LaGuardia Airport and 96% at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. More than 70% of flights at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, which host more international flights, were also canceled Sunday.
Airlines routinely cancel flights before a major storm to prevent planes, passengers and crew from getting stranded, which can worsen disruptions after the severe weather leaves. January is a low season for travel in general, but the massive storm was expected to disrupt the travel of hundreds of thousands of people for days.
American, Delta, JetBlue AirwaysSouthwest Airlines, United Airlines and other U.S. carriers said they are waiving change and cancellation fees as well as fare differences to rebook for customers with tickets to and from more than 40 airports across the country. Exemptions include restrictive basic economy tickets.
American said it was repositioning its planes and increasing its workforce at major airports to help mitigate the impact of the storm and “set the stage for a rapid and safe recovery once conditions improve.”
The National Weather Service warns that the winter storm could affect hundreds of millions of people and is expected to “bring heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain from the Southern Rockies to New England through Monday.”
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