WASHINGTON - Airlines cancelled more than 2,000 US flights scheduled for Thursday and Friday, disrupting holiday travel for thousands, as an Arctic blast surged across a wide swath of the country ahead of a powerful winter storm.

The extreme weather coincided with the start of a holiday travel season shaping up as one of the busiest in decades.

More than 1,500 US flights had been cancelled on Thursday and another 761 flights for Friday were scrapped, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.

So far, 21 per cent of departing flights at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and 37 per cent of flights at Chicago Midway were cancelled on Thursday.

In the seven days ending Wednesday, the Transportation Security Administration said it screened nearly 16.2 million passengers, slightly below the 16.5 million screened in the same period in 2019.

Last year’s holiday period was marred by an outbreak of Covid-19 among staff that forced airlines to cancel many flights.

US airlines including Delta, United Airlines and American Airlines said on Tuesday they were waiving change fees and fare differences for passengers in a range of affected areas.

American Airlines said on Wednesday it was continuing to monitor the winter storm, which is expected to impact Midwest, Northeast and East Coast airports this week, and had cancelled about 80 flights as of 8am.

Southwest Airlines had cancelled 580 flights. REUTERS