The last day of the year-end travel rush unfolds like every day as Good night for airline passengers: chaotic.
Airlines have canceled more than 2,500 Sunday flights across the country and in and out of the United States, according to the flight tracker. Reported flight. That adds up to more than 2,700 flight cancellations on Saturdays, bringing the total since Christmas Eve to more than 15,000 canceled flights. This weekend’s cancellations marked the worst two-day stretch of the vacation travel season and affected passengers on nearly every American airline.
Blame Sunday’s disaster on winter weather at key airline hubs, including Chicago and Denver, and, at some airlines, the continuing shortage of flight crew due to an increase in calls for COVID illness such as omicron spreads.More than 600 of Sunday’s flight cancellations are flights to and from Chicago and more than 300 are flights to and from Denver.
The airlines with the most cancellations at 5:30 pm ET:
►SkyWest Airlines, which operates regional flights for United, Delta, American and Alaska under the names of those airlines: 5,373 flights, or 22% of scheduled flights. Other regional connecting airlines, including Mesa Airlines, Envoy Air and Air Wisconsin, are also canceling dozens of Sunday flights. Mesa, which flies as American Eagle and United Express, canceled 23% of its flights and Air Wisconsin, which flies as United Express, canceled 16% of its flights.
► Southwest Airlines: 424 flights, or 11%. Southwest suspended operations in Chicago on Saturday afternoon due to a snowstorm and it will take time to get them back on track. Flight delays are also a big problem for the airline on Sunday, with more than 1,400 flights delayed. That’s nearly 40% of scheduled flights and accounts for more than one in four of the total Sunday flight delays in the United States.
►Delta Air Lines: 175 flights or 6%. Delta was one of the first to sound the alarms about the impact on staffing of the latest wave of coronavirus, and its CEO called on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce isolation time for patients. they tested positive for 10 to five days. The CDC changed the recommendations right after Christmas.
►JetBlue Airways: 171 flights, or 16%. The New York-based airline announced plans earlier this week to proactively cancel nearly 1,300 flights through mid-January due to personnel problems. The airline warned that the number could grow “until the case count begins to decline.”
►American Airlines: 157 flights, or 5%.
►United Airlines: 109 flights, or 5%.
My flight was canceled, what’s next?
More than ever, travelers returning home on Sunday should check their flight status before heading to the airport.
Airlines generally rebook travelers on the next available flight, but on some airlines, including the Allegiant Discount Store, it’s not always the next day. The Las Vegas-based airline does not operate its routes every day. It canceled more than a quarter of its flights on Saturday and 22% on New Years Eve. So far this Sunday, the airline has canceled 12% of its flights. Low-cost airlines Frontier and Spirit canceled 15% and 10% of Sunday flights, respectively.
Travelers who don’t like the rebooking option should contact the airline for other options, but should be prepared with other flight times and routes.
Myra Gerst and her partner, Eric Watford, spent Saturday fighting for a Sunday flight from St. Louis to Salt Lake City. Southwest Airlines canceled their flight on Saturday afternoon and the earliest the airline could get them out was Sunday at 6:30 p.m.
“We have to go back to work on Monday and we have a one-year-old baby and arriving at midnight before starting our week on Monday at 8am didn’t sound so good,” Gerst said.
They booked it as a backup, but started looking for previous flights on other airlines. They found a Delta flight early Sunday morning. It wasn’t cheap: 80,000 Delta frequent flier miles plus $ 250.
It took off on time.
Don’t want to take the flight an airline rebookers you on? Travelers whose flights are canceled by the airline are eligible for a refund, not just a future travel credit, regardless of the type of ticket purchased or the cause of the cancellation, depending on Rules of the Department of Transportation.
Do your homework: What do airlines owe you when flights are canceled or delayed?
Please hold: “The current wait time is 2 hours and 43 minutes”
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism