Airlines cancel nearly 13,000 weekend flights as massive winter storm sweeps across U.S.

Airlines canceled adjacent to 13,000 U.S. flights this play arsenic a monolithic wintertime tempest swept crossed the country, bringing dense snow, crystal and sleet, followed by bitter cold.

Close to 3,900 flights connected Saturday were canceled, according to formation tracker FlightAware. Many of Saturday's cancellations were successful and retired of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, with about 1,400 scrubbed flights, and astatine Dallas Love Field, with 190 cancellations, the bulk of the docket astatine each airport.

American Airlines, based successful Fort Worth, Texas, had canceled 982 Saturday flights, astir a 3rd of its mainline docket and Southwest Airlines canceled 572 flights, oregon 20%, according to FlightAware.

U.S. formation cancellations more than doubled to much than 8,800 connected Sunday erstwhile the tempest is expected to deed the mid-Atlantic and Northeast U.S. As of Saturday afternoon, astir flights from Raleigh-Durham International Airport successful North Carolina to Portland, Maine, were canceled. Major hose hubs were affected arsenic acold southbound arsenic Atlanta, wherever Delta Air Lines is based.

More than 87% of the Sunday flights were canceled astatine LaGuardia Airport successful New York and 96% at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. More than 70% of flights astatine Newark Liberty International Airport successful New Jersey and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, which person much planetary flights, were besides canceled for Sunday.

Airlines routinely cancel flights up of a large tempest to forestall planes, passengers and unit from getting stranded, which tin worsen disruptions aft terrible upwind moves out. January is simply a debased play for question mostly but the immense tempest was acceptable to snarl question for hundreds of thousands of radical for days.

American, Delta, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and different U.S. carriers said they are waiving alteration and cancellation fees arsenic good arsenic fare differences to rebook for customers with tickets to and from much than 40 airports astir the country. The waivers see restrictive basal system tickets.

American said it was repositioning its airplanes and expanding staffing astatine large airports to assistance soften the interaction of the tempest and to "set the signifier for a fast, harmless betterment erstwhile conditions improve."

The National Weather Service is informing that the wintertime tempest could impact hundreds of millions of radical and is expected to "bring wide dense snow, sleet, and freezing rainfall from the Southern Rockies to New England done Monday."