An Embraer E175 LR guests airplane of American Eagles airline companies (C) taxxing before liftoff to Pittsburg is seen at La Guardia Airport on January 9, 2024.
Charly Triballeau|Afp|Getty Images
Airlines canceled about 2,000 U.S. flights Friday as they face winter season weather condition and the grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 aircrafts.
Storms in the Midwest assisted drive more than 4,500 hold-ups, with significant disturbances around Chicago and Detroit, significant centers for the biggest U.S. providers, according to flight-tracker FlightAware.
About 40% of flights at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, a center for United Airlines and American Airlines, were canceled after a snowstorm caused an over two-hour ground stop. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, a center for Delta Air Lines, had about 20% of flights Friday either postponed or canceled due to the storms.
Southwest Airlines, which has a huge operation out of Chicago Midway, canceled more than 400 flights, while more than 900 were postponed.
United canceled about 10% of its mainline flights and postponed about 20%.
Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded Boeing 737 Max nines after a door plug blew off an Alaska Airlines flight, so the jets can go through examinations. That grounding has actually continued to interrupt travel for both United and Alaska Airlines, the only 2 U.S. airline companies that run the airplane.
Alaska Airlines stated Friday it would cancel all flights on the Max 9 through Sunday as it waits on paperwork from Boeing and the FAA to start examinations.
About 20% of the provider’s flights were canceled Friday and more than 10% were postponed, FlightAware information revealed. Alaska stated that in between 110 and 150 flights each day would be affected by the grounding of the Max 9.
“We regret the significant disruption that has been caused for our guests by cancellations due to these aircraft being out of service,” the business stated.
