Texas airports are experiencing massive flight cancellations due to ice storms in central and southern Texas, as well as Tenessee. It’s been going on for at least three days.
The details of these cancellations
According to FlightAware.com, DFW canceled 75% of its flights Wednesday (648 total), while Love Field canceled 68% of its flights (197). Another 166 flights were canceled at Austin, or 51% of the airport’s capacity. Thirty-two flights (21%) were canceled at San Antonio International Airport (SAT). Two Houston airports have a total of 57 canceled flights.
American Airlines and Southwest largely affected
American and Southwest Airlines appear to be the hardest hit by the storms. The former has canceled more than 800 flights so far, while the latter has canceled 670. Regional airlines Envoy Air (which has hubs in DFW, Chicago O’Hare and Miami) and SkyWest (which has hubs on West Coast, Southwest and Midwest) canceled 206 and 143 flights respectively.
Other regions are also affected
According to CNN, storms and windy conditions are spreading from Texas to West Virginia, with Nashville also seeing a high number of cancellations today (54). The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for east, north and central Texas until 9 a.m. Thursday, February 2. ) bridges and viaducts will remain frozen.
This is the third time the Dallas area has been affected.
The Dallas Morning News reports that this is now the third year in a row that the Dallas area has been hit by ice storms and snowstorms in late January/early February. Last year, airlines canceled more than 2,000 flights due to an ice storm that hit northern Texas. The previous year, historic cold temperatures and snow knocked out the Texas power grid and halted nearly all airport traffic due to icy roads and runways.
