This year’s Thanksgiving air travel has finally hit a hitch.
Airlines canceled nearly 2,000 flights on Saturday and another 679 on Sunday, rolling out weather waivers as a potent storm swept through the upper Midwest and Great Lakes. The system brought up to a foot of snow or more to much of the region.
The disturbance — which came after a calm run-up to Thanksgiving — has disrupted the plans of thousands of travelers during the second half of what’s expected to be one of the busiest Thanksgiving holiday periods ever for air travel.
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According to FlightAware, the official cancellation tally for Saturday stood at 1,978, with the major airports serving Chicago and Milwaukee the hardest hit. At Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) — a hub for both United and American airlines — nearly half the day’s schedule was canceled. At Chicago Midway Airport (MDW), a major base for Southwest Airlines, about 40% were canceled on Saturday.
By Sunday, the storm had pulled out of the region, but lingering delays and cancellations remained — though schedules seemed to have stabilized by late afternoon.
Airlines had canceled 679 flights on Sunday and delayed another 8,292 as of 5:15 p.m. EST, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. Of Sunday’s cancellations, at least 300 were already grounded by Saturday evening, though the overall cancellation total had not risen much since early 1 p.m.
Conditions were likely to improve throughout Sunday, though more cancellations were likely as carriers work to get planes and crews back into place. Sixteen flights on Monday had already been grounded, though disruptions like those seen Saturday and Sunday were not expected.
Still, the weekend flight disruptions snarled thousands of flyers during the busy post-Thanksgiving travel period.
The flight woes that hit Chicago and Milwaukee rippled out to flights across the region — and country — though dozens of airports across the Midwest suffered significant disruptions.
But schedules were improving Sunday. At O’Hare, FlightAware put cancellations at about 6% of the day’s schedule, down dramatically from Saturday when nearly half were canceled.
At Eastern Iowa Airport (CID) near Cedar Rapids, only seven departures — roughly 16% of the day’s schedule — and no arrivals had been canceled. That marked a major improvement from Saturday, when 60% of the schedule was canceled.
Among other airports that saw significant winter-weather disruptions on Saturday were:
- St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL)
- Omaha’s Eppley Airfield (OMA) in Nebraska
- Des Moines International Airport (DSM) in Iowa
- Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport (GRB)
- Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wisconsin (MSN)
- Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City, Michigan (TVC)
- Quad Cities International Airport near Davenport, Iowa (MLI)
- South Bend International Airport in South Bend, Indiana (SBN)
- Fort Wayne International Airport in Indiana (FWA)
- General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport in Illinois (PIA)
- Waterloo Regional Airport in Iowa (ALO)
On Sunday, the system had moved to the east and away from most major air hubs. Sunday’s lingering disruptions should continue to improve, though road travel could be a problem across parts of Pennsylvania and upstate New York.
Most major airlines had rolled out flexible rebooking policies for passengers affected by the storm and scheduled to fly through the region.
STORM WAIVERS: American | Delta | Frontier | Southwest | Sun Country | United
Travelers scheduled to fly on Sunday or Monday should check ahead on the status of their flights before heading to the airport.
Check back for updates.
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Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
