(CNN) — Airlines have so far canceled 2,500 flights this Sunday, as a mighty winter storm rain, sleet and snow is about to hit the East Coast on a holiday weekend.
Nearly 90% of flights out of Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, a hub for American Airlines, have been canceled, according to flight tracking site FlightAware. The airline preemptively canceled 1,100 Sunday flights in its mainline and regional operations after canceling 90 on Saturday.
“This weekend’s winter storm is expected to have a significant impact on our operation, especially at Charlotte International Airport (CLT),” American said in a statement.
The airline also issued a travel advisory allowing weather-affected customers to rebook flights free of charge.
Nearly 74 million people were under winter weather warnings Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service.
The massive storm system is approaching the eastern United States from the Midwest and is expected to pack ice in parts of Georgia, Virginia and the Carolinas on Sunday. The governors of those states have declared emergencies.
“This is going to be by far the biggest problem we’re going to encounter in the next 48 hours: ice, lots of it,” CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar said Saturday morning.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday, January 17, is a federal holiday, with many schools and offices closed.
The situation with other airlines
American isn’t the only airline canceling flights. As of 4:30 a.m. (Miami time) on Saturday, Southwest canceled 164 flights, or 4% of its operations according to FlightAware, while Delta Air Lines canceled 153 flights, or 7% of its operation.
Other airports in the Southeast are also facing significant cancellations Sunday, with Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina canceling more than half, or 74, of its flights that day. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport canceled 19%, or 155, of its flights on Sunday.
Saturday saw more than 400 cancellations and 2,000 delays across the United States as the storm moves south.
have been some miserable weeks to be an airplane traveler. Winter weather and surges caused by the omicron variant have resulted in 20,000 flights being canceled in the US during the busy holiday season. As travel has increased, staff cuts have also left airlines with fewer employees than before the pandemic.
CNN’s Jason Hanna, Hannah Gard, Alanne Orjoux and Chris Isidore contributed to this report.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism