About 20,000 U.S. flights have been canceled due to the winter storm - and counting

MW About 20,000 U.S. flights have been canceled due to the winter storm - and counting

By Claudia Assis

American and Delta flights going in and out of Atlanta and Charlotte were among the most affected Sunday

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport has been among the air-travel hubs most affected by this weekend's winter storm.

Airlines have canceled around 20,000 flights through Monday due to a winter storm expected to wallop two-thirds of the U.S. over the weekend - with flights into and out of Atlanta among the most affected so far.

The widespread air-travel disruptions come amid forecasts for heavy snow and frigid temperatures in the Northeast and Midwest, as well as icy conditions and gusty winds across the southern Great Plains and Southeast, the National Weather Service said.

More than 1,200 flights on Friday, about 4,600 flights on Saturday, over 11,000 flights on Sunday and about 2,500 flights on Monday had been canceled as of Sunday afternoon, according to FlightAware.

Sunday's cancellations most significantly affected flights in and out of Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Dallas; and the New York City area.

Dallas Forth Worth and Charlotte Douglas are the two largest hubs for Fort Worth-based American Airlines $(AAL)$, while Hartsfield-Jackson is Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines' $(DAL)$ top hub. Cancellations also hit Dallas Love Field, home to Southwest Airlines' $(LUV)$ corporate headquarters.

Sunday's cancellations were most heavily hitting American (over 1,500 flights), Delta (nearly 1,500 flights) and Southwest (over 1,300 flights), at last check.

On an average day, about 1% of roughly 50,000 daily U.S. flights, are canceled and some 20% are delayed. On Jan. 22, 2025, at the peak of a historic snowstorm that blanketed the Southeast, some 1,700 flights were canceled.

Aviation analytics company Cirium said Sunday's cancellations were the highest since the pandemic's early shutdown days. There were 22,751 flights scheduled March 30, 2020, with 12,143 cancellations, Cirium said.

On July 19, 2024, there were 3,600 cancellations connected to a faulty software update involving cybersecurity company CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD), which rattled computers running Microsoft Windows $(MSFT)$ and the global information-technology system with the "blue screen of death" and affecting airlines, airport operations and other businesses.

For the current storm, U.S. airlines have issued waivers to ticket holders, with the details of what is covered varying from airline to airline.

Once a flight is canceled, there's very little slack in the system for rebookings, as airlines work to fly planes as close to capacity as possible. That makes for slow rebooking and recovery from any flight cancellations.

The storm is expected to bring heavy snow, ice and bitter cold to large swaths of the country. It is shaping up to be particularly treacherous, as it is expected to hit areas not used to severe winter weather.

U.S. airline stocks finished in the red Friday, a mixed day broadly for the U.S. equity market. The U.S. Global Jets exchange-traded fund JETS ended 1.1% lower on the day.

-Claudia Assis

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January 25, 2026 17:18 ET (22:18 GMT)

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