Airlines massively cancel flights due to a snow storm in the US

Airlines cancel flights and do not charge rebooking fees on the eve of the new winter stormwhich in the coming days is likely to affect the operation of airports from the Great Plains to the Northeast.

Photo: Depositphoto

Yesterday as of 17: 40 EST, FlightAware’s flight tracking service already counted more than 470 flights, originally scheduled for Wednesday, but canceled due to a storm warning, writes USA Today.

Southwest has canceled more than half of all flights, with about 256 flights cancelled. United has also begun cancellations, with spokeswoman Maddie King saying the carrier is "significantly reducing" its regional United Express service at Washington Dulles Airport starting Tuesday night and into Wednesday (the airport is United's main hub).

Many of the flights canceled by Southwest were destined for Baltimore/Washington and Chicago Midway, the busiest airports in the Southwest.

Although it was expected that there would be winter weather at both airports, Southwest began to cancel flights several days ago for entirely different reasons. Last week, the airline announced an emergency after an unusually large number of aircraft were put out of action at the last minute due to emergency repairs.

On Tuesday, for example, Southwest canceled more than 180 flights (4% of its entire schedule), more than any other carrier. There were 84 flights canceled on Monday and another 112 on Sunday.

Фото: Depositphotos

On Wednesday, the cause of most canceled flights was still the weather in the upper Midwest, the Great Lakes, parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. At many of the busiest airports in the region, weather conditions, a mixture of snow and ice on the runways and surrounding areas were expected to deteriorate. Around Washington and Baltimore waited up to 15 centimeters, although precipitation could turn into rain due to rising air temperatures.

As the weather worsened, airlines changed the rebooking rules. On Wednesday, American, Delta, JetBlue and Frontier canceled paid changes in flight conditions, Southwest and United expanded the possibility of on-site changes. Most likely, other companies will also make adjustments to the rules at the time of adverse weather conditions.

• On Wednesday, Delta announced it would waive rebooking fees at nine airports, from New York south through Philadelphia to Baltimore and Washington.
• United, which on Tuesday did not charge rebooking fees at Chicago O'Hare, expanded its policy to include almost 50 airports: 10 airports on the Great Plains, as well as Minnesota and Wisconsin to the east to Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.
• Southwest has two sets of rules: for the Midwest, as well as the Ohio and Northeast valleys, which include more 20 airports.
• American focused on the Northeast, encompassing 11 cities and airports, including JFK in New York and Ronald Reagan Airport in Washington.
• JetBlue does not charge rebooking fees at six airports (Baltimore / Washington; Minneapolis / St. Paul; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Richmond, Virginia and Reagan in Washington).
• Frontier Airlines has reached customers departing from 24 airports from New York State to North Dakota and Nebraska.

Each company's policy is different from the others, but as a rule, a customer can make one change to the route without paying a standard fee for this service (usually it costs 200 dollars and more).

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