An American Eagle plane taxis during a snow storm at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) in Seattle, Washington, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022.
David Ryder | Bloomberg | Getty Images
FedEx and United Parcel Service warned that packages could arrive late this week as an enormous winter storm brought high winds, bitter cold and snow to large swaths of america ahead of Christmas weekend.
Severe weather was already snarling air travel during what is anticipated to be considered one of the busiest travel periods since before the pandemic.
“FedEx Express experienced substantial disruptions at our Memphis and Indianapolis hubs last night on account of severe winter weather that has been moving across america,” FedEx said Friday. It said packages set for delivery on Friday and Saturday, which is Christmas Eve, might be delayed across the country.
UPS said severe weather “across several regions of the U.S. are impacting the usAir and Ground network, including UPS hubs in Louisville, Kentucky and Rockford, Illinois. Because of this, some delivery and pickup services in these areas shall be affected.”
The warnings come during considered one of the busiest times for package delivery, ahead of Christmas Day on Sunday.
The large winter storm made getting home for the vacations a challenge for hundreds of travelers. Airlines cancelled greater than 7,000 flights and delayed greater than 20,000 from Wednesday through Friday afternoon, in accordance with flight-tracker FlightAware. The period includes a few of what airlines expect to be the busiest days of the vacation period. Snow and sleet within the Pacific Northwest also disrupted flights.
Federal forecasters warned about treacherous road conditions, dangerously low temperatures and high winds in cities from Chicago to Boston. The National Weather Service had parts of Florida, including Tampa and Orlando, under a freeze warning Saturday morning.
On Thursday, 10% of U.S. airlines’ scheduled flights were cancelled while almost half were delayed, arriving late by a median of around 70 minutes, FlightAware data showed.
Greater than to 4,800 U.S. flights were cancelled on Friday.
Southwest Airlines canceled greater than 900 Friday flights, a few fifth of its operation, while nearly 1,400, a 3rd of its schedule, were delayed, in accordance with FlightAware. Nearly 400 of Seattle-based Alaska Airlines flights were canceled, near half of its operation.
Alaska warned travelers on Friday that it could take days “multiple days” to rebook travelers because flights are so full through the holidays.
“Our contact centers are experiencing long hold times as they struggle to assist hundreds of guests, and we’re working across the clock to reunite guests with their bags,” it said in an update. “We strongly encourage guests to reassess their travel plans on account of limited availability.”
Airlines aim to cancel flights as far prematurely as possible so travelers, crews and planes aren’t stranded on the airport during bad weather.
American, Delta, United, Southwest, JetBlue, Alaska, Spirit and other carriers waived change fees and fare differences for greater than 50 airports if travelers can fly later.
Airlines had hoped for a repeat of the relatively smooth Thanksgiving travel period to finish what has been a rocky yr for carriers, crews and customers alike on account of bad weather and labor shortages.
Carriers are prone to update investors on the financial impact of the storm after they release quarterly leads to January, or possibly earlier.
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