More than 1,000 flights canceled as winter storm hits US
Feb 22, 2023, 9:34 AM | Updated: 9:48 am
(Salt Lake City International Airport)
(Salt Lake City International Airport)
(CNN) — More than 1,000 flights were canceled in the United States on Wednesday morning as a winter storm hit the country.
As of about 9:15 a.m. MT Wednesday, a total of 1,221 flights in and out of the U.S. had been canceled, according to flight tracking site FlightAware. Regional carrier SkyWest, which operates through partnerships with United, Delta, American and Alaska Airlines, had canceled about 280 flights. Delta and Southwest had both canceled about 240 flights.
Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport and Denver International Airport were the most heavily affected, according to FlightAware. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Toronto Pearson International Airport were also experiencing disruption.
Southwest Airlines has issued winter weather waivers for about a dozen airports.
Delta Air Lines has issued waivers for Upper Midwest winter weather and Rockies and Mountain regions winter weather.
American Airlines and United have also issued winter weather waivers for travel this week.
The flight disruption comes after winter weather alerts were issued across 29 states, including California, Minnesota and Maine, with warnings of severe icing, extreme cold and sleet as part of the three-day storm.
The Minneapolis area of Minnesota is at risk of picking up at least 15 inches of snow, with the National Weather Service in Minnesota’s Twin Cities warning the powerful storm “will bring widespread accumulating snow, with blowing and drifting snow mainly Wednesday through Thursday.”
