Airlines cancelled more than 1,300 flights across the US on Wednesday morning as a winter storm sweeps across the country bringing snow, wind and freezing rain.
The cancellations were concentrated in Minneapolis and Denver. Minnesota saw up to 5 inches of snow overnight, with up to 15 more expected today. The Minneapolis airport saw 194 flights cancelled, or 45 per cent of the total scheduled for take-off, according to FlightAware data just after . In Colorado, the 116 scrubbed flights comprised 28 per cent of departures.
The storm, caused by arctic air from Canada interacting with multiple weather fronts, will lead to “almost all of the country experiencing some form of notable weather” this week, the US National Weather Service said.
Airlines are already under scrutiny from federal regulators, legislators and the public, following an uneven attempt to restore flying capacity after the Covid-19 pandemic devastated demand for air travel. Travellers have seen more flights cancelled or delayed this winter than in the past decade, including a high-profile meltdown at low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines over the Christmas holiday.
Southwest, which averages more than 100 daily departures from Denver, is one of the hardest hit airlines today. It has cancelled 249 flights today, or 6 per cent of its schedule. Delta Air Lines, which counts Minneapolis as a hub, cancelled 250 flights — 8 per cent of the total.
Travellers flying regional airline SkyWest also are scrambling. SkyWest, which contracts with network carriers to operate shorter flights, cancelled 320 flights, or 15 per cent of its schedule.
