Airlines scrap nearly 2,000 flights as storm disrupts holiday travel

Washington, Dec 22 (Prensa Latina) US airlines on Thursday canceled more than 2,000 flights, at the beginning of Christmas travel, due to growing a winter storm threat.

December 22, 2022
17:56

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the winter storm caused blizzards in the central region of the country, but even greater disturbances are being expected throughout the day and tomorrow in Chicago, Detroit and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

As a result, over 1,500 flights were cancelled on Thursday and 761 others for Friday, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.

Specifically in Chicago, 21% of flights departing from O’Hare International Airport and 37% of those departing from Midway have been cancelled so far.

Meanwhile, American Airlines cancelled about 80 flights and said it would monitor weather conditions at airports in the Midwest, Northeast and East Coast this week. Southwest Airlines also cancelled 580 other flights.

The winter storm limited the scope of the holiday travel season that some experts are predicting to be one of the busiest in history.

According to the Transportation Security Administration, nearly 16.2 million passengers were accounted for as of Wednesday, slightly below the 16.5 million screened in the same period in 2019.

pll/ro/att