Winter storm snarls US travel, forces mass flight cancellations
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Over 3,600 flights were cancelled and 714 were delayed as at Jan 26 early morning.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON – A powerful winter storm sweeping across much of the United States forced airlines to cancel thousands of flights and delayed hundreds on Jan 26, as freezing rain and heavy snowfall disrupted travel and snarled transportation networks.
Over 5,300 flights were cancelled and more than 4,300 were delayed as at Jan 26, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware, following more than 11,000 cancellations reported on Jan 25.
As of 8:20am, nearly 14 per cent of scheduled flights had been cancelled, Cirium data showed.
Low pressure south of New England is expected to move east over the Atlantic on Jan 26, bringing heavy snow to parts of the north-east and freezing rain across sections of the Mid-Atlantic, the US National Weather Service said.
Snow is also expected along the Appalachian region, while rain will spread along the south-east coast as a cold front moves offshore, the agency said.
Experts at weather forecaster AccuWeather said the winter storm battering more than two dozen US states is expected to cause preliminary damage and economic losses of between US$105 billion (S$133 billion) and US$115 billion.
The storm is set to become by far the costliest severe weather event since the Los Angeles-area wildfires, AccuWeather said.
American Airlines accounted for the largest share of disruptions on Jan 26, with nearly 570 flights cancelled and about 57 delayed, followed by Republic Airways, JetBlue Airways and Delta Air Lines.
The disruptions also left thousands of travel plans in limbo. Passengers inundated carriers with queries on social media platforms to seek clarity on flight schedules.
United Airlines said it would begin restoring flights and was expecting significantly fewer cancellations on Jan 26. It had 282 cancellations as of Jan 26 morning, according to FlightAware.
Boston’s Logan International Airport, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport were among the hardest hit.
Major US carriers rolled out sweeping travel waivers and flexible re-booking options to assist passengers whose travel plans were disrupted by the cancellations.
Airline operations are highly interconnected, meaning cancellations can leave aircraft and crews out of position, complicating efforts to restore normal flight schedules.
“The hotel cancellation rates for both USA and Canada has increased by 36 per cent in the days running up to and during storm Fern,” online hotel booking site HotelPlanner said.
The storm also impeded road travel. The Federal Emergency Management Agency warned that driving conditions could become dangerous as blizzard-like conditions, strong winds and ice spread further.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of customers across several US states, from Tennessee to the Carolinas, reported power outages, with Tennessee reporting the highest number of cases.
More than 820,000 customers were without electricity as of early hours on Jan 26, according to data from PowerOutage.us.
American Airlines separately issued an statement saying operations remain strained after the winter storm disrupted five of its nine hub airports, including its largest base at Dallas–Fort Worth, where freezing temperatures and ice halted flights.
The carrier noted teams are working around the clock with airport authorities, contractors and federal agencies to safely restore normal operations. REUTERS
