By Susan Carey
Nov. 28, 2014 1:26 p.m. ET
After canceling more than 750 flights on Wednesday, a busy travel day before the Thanksgiving holiday, due to snow, rain and winds across the East Coast, airlines were operating close to normal on Friday.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s Air-Traffic Control System Command Center website showed no major airport problems from coast to coast at midday Friday.
FlightAware.com, a live tracking service, reported only 27 flight cancellations by midday Friday, although 533 flights were delayed. Normally, U.S. airlines operate about 25,000 flights a day.
United Continental Holdings Inc. warned on its website, however, of light snow in Boston and Chicago and high winds in New York on Friday.
Wednesday was a far different story, as a wave of low pressure over the Gulf of Mexico shifted northeastward, bringing widespread rain from Florida to Maine. The storm, which developed into a nor’easter, brought significant snow from the central Appalachians into the inland parts of the Northeast U.S.
With 2.27 million passengers scheduled to fly that day, one of the busiest travel days of the year, airlines ended up canceling 751 flights and nearly 4,900 others were delayed.
The worst-hit were flights headed to and from Newark, N.J., Philadelphia, New York’s La Guardia and JFK airports and Reagan National Airport near Washington.
Passengers whose flights were canceled could opt for refunds. But those determined to make their holiday trips were offered opportunities to change their flight times during a limited window without financial penalty.
Delta Air Lines Inc. said Friday that it was able to rebook some of its passengers on Wednesday within 3½ hours of their scheduled arrival times, with others being reaccommodated up to seven hours later, meaning some weren’t on their way until Thursday morning.
American Airlines Group Inc. also said it was able rebook its passengers who had planned to fly on Wednesday, without having to put on extra flights.
United also said it made good on its customers’ travel plans, with some delays, and operated 12 extra flights Thanksgiving morning to help the effort.
On Thursday, Thanksgiving itself, there were 85 U.S. flight cancellations and nearly 1,000 delays, according to FlightAware.com.
Friday’s weather forecast was benign. U.S. government meteorologists said that while average temperatures in the eastern half of the country will be colder than normal, there will be no major snow, just some lake-effect showers downwind of the Great Lakes.
An arctic front across the northern Rockies and Plains also will usher in colder temperatures this weekend, but the greatest concentration of heavy snow should remain north of the Canadian border, according to the latest forecast.
Sunday is slated to be the busiest travel day of the year, with 2.61 million people expected to fly on U.S. airlines, according to trade group Airlines for America. Monday will rank second, with 2.41 million fliers expected.
Delta said that Sunday is shaping up to be the busiest day in its history, with 5,700 flights on the books, including those of its Delta Connection regional partners. A spokesman said the weather is supposed to be good that day.
- Source: http://online.wsj.com
A
worker de-ices an American Airlines Eagle jet at La Guardia airport on
Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. After canceling hundreds of
flights because of the storm, airlines were operating close to normal on
Friday. Reuters
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