The Winter Storm Of Holiday Travel Distribution, Airlines Restricted 4,400 Flights In The United States

Illustration of snow at US airport. (Wikimedia Commons/MassDOT)

JAKARTA - More than 4,400 flights have been canceled over a two-day period as strong winter storms hit the United States, coinciding with the start of the holiday season predicted by some to be the busiest.

More than 2,350 US flights have been canceled Thursday and another 2,120 flights for Friday were canceled, according to flight tracking site FlightAware.

In addition, another 8,450 flights were delayed on Thursday, including more than a third operated by American Airlines, United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines.

Southwest has canceled 865 flights on Thursday, about a fifth of all scheduled flights, and has canceled 550 more flights for Friday.

Separately, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Thursday winter storms brought snowstorm conditions to the internet, with major travel disruptions expected to occur in Chicago, Detroit, and Minneapolis-St. Paulus.

Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines, which canceled 140 flights on Thursday from 4,400 and 90 on Friday per FlightAware, warned "additional cancellations will be needed on Friday, as storms continue to impact operations in Detroit and the Northeast."

At Euro p.m. Thursday night, 25 percent of flights departed at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and 37 percent of flights in Chicago totaling was canceled, while 27 percent of Denver's departing flights had been canceled.

US airlines said earlier this week they waived the cost of changes and tariff differences for passengers in various storm-affected areas.

Not only flights, but Amtrak passenger trains canceled dozens of trains until Christmas, disrupting holiday trips for tens of thousands of people.

Amtrak said canceling several dozen scheduled train trips in thelanche until Christmas due to weather conditions, including trains in Michigan, Illinois and Missouri as well as trains between New York and Chicago.

Brandon Mattis, 24, is at New York's La Guardia Airport trying to go to Atlanta, Georgia, to join his other family for Christmas celebrations. The flight has been canceled," he said.

"We're trying to find out on our phone. Find out other routes. Maybe even take a bus from here to Atlanta, which will take about 21 hours. So, it's really a hassle. But whatever we can do is just to get there (is) what we're going to do," he said.

In seven days ending Wednesday, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said it had screened nearly 16.2 million passengers, slightly below 16.5 million screened in the same period in 2019, before the COVID pandemic.

It is known, last year's holiday period was colored by the COVID-19 outbreak among staff, forcing airlines to cancel thousands of flights.