Airlines preemptively cancel more than 1,400 flights through Saturday ahead of winter storm

Flight cancellations are piling up by the thousands ahead of what could be one of the biggest winter storms to hit the U.S. in recent memory.

The first flakes from the storm have yet to fall, but carriers have begun canceling flights in anticipation of the storm – dubbed “Winter Storm Fern” by The Weather Channel.

More than 350 flights for Friday had already been canceled as of 10:50 p.m. EST on Thursday, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. Saturday’s schedules had taken an even bigger hit, with more than 1,065 additional cancellations on the books. All told, that means airlines by Thursday evening had canceled more than 1,400 flights for Friday and Saturday, with the tally certain to grow.

The preemptive cancellations come after forecasters have been warning for days of a potentially devastating winter storm that could spread a mix of heavy snow and ice across a swath of the U.S. stretching from the Texas and the Deep South north through the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

Airlines also have been warning about the storm’s possible effect on schedules, with most of the nation’s big airlines rolling out flexible rebooking policies for airports along the system’s expected path.

Now airlines have begun canceling flights to help keep planes, crews and passengers from becoming stranded after conditions deteriorate.

Several of the nation’s busiest airports faced the prospect of severe disruptions through Monday, including the world’s busiest in Atlanta that’s also home to Delta Air Lines’ biggest hub. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) – the nation’s second-busiest airport – also could see major disruptions from ice and wintry weather.

Major hubs serving New York, Charlotte, Washington, Philadelphia and Boston were likewise forecast to get hit with schedule-crippling weather from the storm before it exits the Northeast on Monday.

Delta was the first to communicate disruptions ahead of the storm, saying on Thursday evening that preemptive “flight cancellations are necessary at select airports in North Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee to ensure the safety of our customers and people.”

Delta was far from alone. FlightAware showed that Dallas-based Southwest Airlines had already canceled more than 90 flights on Friday and another 235 on Saturday. American, with its busiest hub at DFW, had already canceled more than 550 mainline flights through Saturday night.

“We’re repositioning aircraft, aligning crew resources and reinforcing staffing at key airports while coordinating with our partners to help minimize disruption and set the stage for a fast, safe recovery once conditions improve,” American said in a Thursday evening statement.

Travelers flying between now and early next week should brace for possible disruptions across all airlines – and possibly even in parts of the country outside the storm’s path. For example, a flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco could become delayed or canceled if the plane or crew scheduled to operate it gets bogged down in icy Atlanta or snowy Philadelphia.

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