Airline delays and cancellations increase due to winter storms affecting several major airports

Southwest and American were among the airlines hardest hit as an unusual snow and ice storm concentrated in Texas led to flight cancellations and delays across the country on Wednesday.

All 28% of US flights and 17% of Southwest flights were canceled today, according to the flight tracking service Flight knowledge.

A total of 2,285 flights were canceled as of 2:50 pm (EST). That’s on top of a total of more than 1,900 cancellations yesterday and more than 5,000 delays in or within the US.

The current travel mess comes as Texas deals with fallout from an ice storm resulted in traffic accidents, fallen trees, and subsequent power outages to parts of the state. The storm front is now spreading across the southern US

Currently, the three hardest hit airports are Dallas-Fort Worth International (DFW), Dallas Love Field (DAL) and Austin Bergstrom International (AUS).

Both American Airlines and Southwest issued a weather waiver allowing passengers to reschedule or cancel flights at no cost. unified, border and Delta also issued a weather exemption for a winter storm that meteorologists named Mara.

Although it wasn’t as bad as the winter storm that led to Tens of thousands of delays and cancellations over the Christmas holidayit is still impacting a large number of passengers.

The FAA has harshly criticized airlines for not being able to return to schedule as soon as the bad weather has passed. The federal government will likely keep a close eye on how airlines handle recovery from this weather event.

Whether caused by the weather or other reasons, our basic advice for handling of unusual aviation operations remains the same:

• Fly straight if you can.
• Don’t check the bag if you can avoid it.
• Use Apple AirTags in your luggage and do not check for valuables or drugs.
• Your test credit card benefits. Your credit card may cover any additional costs (such as hotels, meals, and ground transportation) that you incur during extended delays or cancellations.
• Install the airline’s app on your phone so you can manually rebook or make other changes.
• Know which other airline(s) operate the route you need in case you can rebook on another carrier.

Remember that if you decide not to travel and the airline cancels your flight, you get a refund (not a credit) Usually, in extreme weather conditions, the airline will allow you to cancel or reschedule your flight with no change or cancellation fees.

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