Over 2,900 flights canceled amid outbreak, snowstorms
This is supposed to be a year of revival for airlines. It’s off to a rough start.
The industry ended an already messy holiday season with thousands more flight cancellations as companies struggled to deal with bad weather and keep planes and airports staffed because of a surge in coronavirus infections. More than 8,000 flights in the United States were canceled from Saturday through Monday, affecting more than 1 in 10 scheduled flights, according to FlightAware, a tracking service.
“We had a series of punches that really knocked the industry to the ground,” said Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research Group, a research firm that specializes in the travel industry.
The recent cancellations were caused by storms that produced heavy snowfall in the Midwest over the weekend and over the eastern United States on Monday — the worst day of the holiday season with more than 2,900 canceled flights. Southwest Airlines and SkyWest Airlines, which operates regional flights for several major carriers, were responsible for about one-third of all cancellations over the weekend and Monday.
“Our planners continue their work to anticipate operational challenges today following the winter storm that moved across the country over the weekend, creating a band of heavy winter weather affecting the Baltimore/ D.C. area Monday morning,” Southwest said in a statement.
The airline has a big hub at Baltimore/Washington International Airport.
SkyWest said it was “working nonstop to minimize impact to customers and crew.”
Overall, airlines canceled more than 15,000 flights over the 10 days spanning Christmas and New Year’s Eve, or about 7% of all scheduled flights.
Heavy snowfall and strong winds in the Western United States drove cancellations around Christmas. The turmoil throughout the holiday season was exacerbated by shortages of crews as pilots, flight attendants and other workers called in sick with the coronavirus.
The disarray comes as airlines pin their hopes on a rebound next summer.
The industry is rapidly hiring workers in anticipation of a return to prepandemic passenger traffic — and consistent profits. That recovery rests largely on the hope that the pandemic will be mostly under control and people will be more willing to travel for work and take more international trips.