Snow Causes Significant Delays And Cancelations For US Travelers

Disruption to air travel caused by adverse weather is set to continue today, with the weekend’s snowy conditions continuing to prevail. Staff shortages due to coronavirus are also a contributing factor, with the greatest disruption being found in the country’s east.

The adverse weather has disrupted people’s journeys home after the holidays. Photo: Getty Images

US cancelations reach four figures again

US passengers are once again set to face extensive disruption to air travel today. Adverse weather continues to impact airline operations resulting in a raft of delays and even cancelations to flights. According to The Daily Mail, the snow is particularly prevalent in the eastern US, with three Washington DC area airports among the top five most disrupted.

At the time of writing, FlightAware data showed that, of the 2,955 reported cancelations to flights today, more than half (namely 1,671) could be found in the US. There are also already 448 delays to flights within, into, or out of the country. However, this represents a smaller proportion of the global total (2,625 flights). But which airlines have suffered the most?

At the time of writing, Southwest Airlines had the most US cancelations today. Photo: Getty Images

The highest-ranked US airline in terms of flight cancelations is low-cost giant Southwest. With a reported 386 cancelations, this represents around 10% of its scheduled flights today. Regional specialist Skywest has 203 cancelations thus far (8%), and 14 delayed flights. Other US carriers with over 100 cancelations include JetBlue, Endeavor Air, and Republic.

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Days of disruption

The difficulties faced by US carriers and airports due to the weather have been ongoing for several days now. Further amplified by the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, this has made for a difficult time to travel for those returning home after the holiday season.

The geography of JetBlue’s operations has left the airline particularly prone to disruption, with both COVID-19 and snow at their worst in the eastern US. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Simple Flying reported yesterday that 13,700 flights had been canceled since December 24th. With rising coronavirus cases amid a wave of the Omicron variant, a lack of operational staff has prompted cancelations even in areas without adverse weather. There is also a regional aspect to the chaos, with New York-based hybrid carrier JetBlue stating last week that:

“We expect the number of COVID cases in the northeast, where most of our crew members are based, to continue to surge for the next week or two. This means there is a high likelihood of additional cancellations until case counts start to come down.”

ANA had to cancel 77 flights because of snow over Christmas. Photo: Getty Images

Challenging conditions

The US isn’t the only country to have faced weather-based disruption over the holidays. Indeed, Japan also experienced heavy snowfall over the festive weekend, resulting in over 100 flight cancelations. While frustrating, operating under such conditions requires caution.

The aviation industry has come a long way in the six decades since the Munich Air Disaster in February 1958. This saw a BEA flight crash while departing Munich in the snow. The tragedy killed 23 of the 44 occupants, including several Manchester United footballers.

Nonetheless, the risk of snow remains, with Finnair and airBaltic suffering minor runway excursions in wintery conditions last year. Thankfully, neither resulted in any injuries. In any case, US airlines and their passengers will be hoping for an end to the disruption, to allow them to safely and punctually get everyone where they need to be in the new year.

What do you make of today’s disruption? Has the adverse weather affected your travel plans? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments.

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