More flight cancellations as storm barrels northwards

More flight cancellations as storm barrels northwards

Flight cancellations are set to grow in number as a big storm sweeps from the South into the Northeast on Tuesday possibly blanketing Boston and New York under a foot of snow. Airline passengers were busy checking their flight status and carriers are relaxing change of reservation rules for travelers willing to delay travel later this week.

Delta Airlines had to cancel some 1,700 flights in addition to more than 2,000 flights it already scrapped in the last two days. Flights coming from snow-covered Atlanta were the most affected but New York and Washington flights were also disrupted by adverse weather conditions.

Delta said that it also cancelled 800 Delta and Delta Connection flights which were originally scheduled for Wednesday. Meanwhile, US Airways dropped 1,000 and 340 flights for Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.

American Airlines canceled 100 flights in Chicago and 500 flights in total, according to spokesman Ed Martelle. He said 350 flights are bound to be canceled on Wednesday excluding international flights from JFK airport in New York.

Continental canceled 244 flights on Tuesday and are set to scratch 485 flights the next day as the storm heads toward its Newark, New Jersey hub. United Airlines said 250 and 142 flights are being cut for Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.

Operations in Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta were severely hampered by thick snow and AirTran Airways canceled operations there on Monday. The airline said some flights will resume on Tuesday.

Airline call centers and customer service offices were inundated with calls from passengers looking to change reservations and to alter flight bookings.

Posted by Sophia Andrews on Wednesday January 12 2011, 3:01 AM EDT. Ref: AP. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Travel. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0