An Embraer E175LR passengers aircraft of American Eagles airlines (C) taxxing before take-off 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 grapple with winter weather and the grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 planes.
Storms within the Midwest helped drive greater than 4,500 delays, with major disruptions around Chicago and Detroit, major hubs for the biggest U.S. carriers, in keeping with flight-tracker FlightAware.
About 40% of flights at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, a hub for United Airlines and American Airlines, were canceled after a snowstorm led to an over two-hour ground stop. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, a hub for Delta Air Lines, had about 20% of flights Friday either delayed or canceled resulting from the storms.
Southwest Airlines, which has a giant operation out of Chicago Midway, canceled greater than 400 flights, while greater than 900 were delayed.
United canceled about 10% of its mainline flights and delayed about 20%.
Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded Boeing 737 Max 9s after a door plug blew off an Alaska Airlines flight, so the jets can undergo inspections. That grounding has continued to disrupt travel for each United and Alaska Airlines, the one two U.S. airlines that operate the aircraft.
Alaska Airlines said Friday it might cancel all flights on the Max 9 through Sunday because it waits for documentation from Boeing and the FAA to start inspections.
About 20% of the carrier’s flights were canceled Friday and greater than 10% were delayed, FlightAware data showed. Alaska said that between 110 and 150 flights per day could be impacted by the grounding of the Max 9.
“We regret the numerous disruption that has been caused for our guests by cancellations resulting from these aircraft being out of service,” the corporate said.
