After hundreds of U.S. flights had been canceled or delayed over the vacations in 2022, most vacation vacationers this yr are off to a cheerier begin this Christmas. However a number of bother spots had been rising on Christmas Day.
Roughly 157 flights to, from or inside the U.S. had been been cancelled as of 5:25 p.m. Japanese Time, whereas simply 2,058 had been delayed, in keeping with monitoring service FlightAware.
Airways had canceled only one.2% of U.S. flights to date this yr as of Dec. 22, the bottom in 5 years. Practically 3 million passengers had been anticipated to go via home airports through the busy vacation interval, up 16% from 2022.
Southwest flights canceled
Not everybody acquired off so fortunate. Some passengers at Chicago’s Halfway Worldwide Airport this Christmas Eve had been left stranded on Christmas Eve, in keeping with CBS Information Chicago, with the U.S. service most disrupted throughout final yr’s vacation interval — Southwest Airways — once more experiencing issues. Southwest attributed the delays to foggy climate in Chicago, however passengers additionally instructed CBS2 {that a} scarcity of employees was an element.
These snafus additionally affected passengers at Denver Worldwide Airport, with Southwest canceling 293 flights on Sunday, whereas almost 1,300 journeys had been delayed, FlightAware information exhibits.
“We had dense fog in Chicago that compelled us to discontinue working final evening and into this morning,” Chris Mainz, a Southwest Airways spokesman, instructed CBS Information Colorado.
Southwest on Monday canceled 109 flights, or 2% of its day by day journeys, whereas 693 flights had been delayed, FlightAware information confirmed. By comparability, Delta and United Airways canceled eight and 6 flights, respectively.
“[Y]ou guys ruined my Christmas two years in a row,” one particular person posted Friday on X.
In the meantime, a winter storm within the Northern Plains is bringing snow, ice and riskier street situations Monday to the area stretching from northern Kansas via Nebraska, the Dakotas and components of Minnesota, the Climate Channel reported.
Southwest earlier this month agreed to a $140 million settlement with the federal authorities over the chaos final yr that stranded greater than 2 million vacationers over the vacations. Southwest has beforehand agreed to pay greater than $600 million in refunds and reimbursements to prospects.
“It is a message to the whole airline business: They have to handle passengers, or we’ll use the complete extent of our authority to carry them accountable,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tweeted on Dec. 18.
—The Related Press contributed to this report.