The last day of the year-end holiday travel rush is shaping up like every day since Christmas Eve for airline passengers: chaotic.
Airlines have already canceled more than 2,100 Sunday flights across the country and into and out of the United States, according to flight tracker FlightAware. That’s on top of more than 2,700 Saturday flight cancellations, bringing the total since Christmas Eve to nearly 15,000 canceled flights.
Blame Sunday’s mess on wintry weather in key airline hubs including Chicago and Denver, and, at some airlines, continuing flight crew shortages due to a surge in COVID sick calls as omicron spreads. More than 500 of Sunday’s flight cancellations are flights to and from Chicago and nearly 200 are flights to and from Denver.
The airlines with the most cancellations as of 10:30 a.m. ET:
►SkyWest Airlines, which operates regional flights for United, Delta, American and Alaska under those airlines’ names: 460 flights, or 19% of scheduled flights. Other regional feeder airlines, including Mesa Airlines, Envoy Air and Air Wisconsin, are also canceling dozens of Sunday flights. Mesa, which flies as American Eagle and United Express, has canceled 20% of its flights and Air Wisconsin, which flies as United Express, has canceled 17% of its flights.
►Southwest Airlines: 410 flights, or 11%. Southwest suspended operations in Chicago on Saturday afternoon due to a snowstorm and it will take time to get its operation back on track.
►Delta Air Lines: 161 flights, or 6%. Delta was one of the first to sound alarms about the impact on staffing from the latest coronavirus wave, with its CEO asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to cut the isolation time for those testing positive from 10 days to five days. The CDC changed the recommendations just after Christmas.
►JetBlue Airways: 169 flights, or 16%. The New York-based airline announced plans earlier this week to proactively cancel nearly 1,300 flights into mid-January due to staffing issues. The airline warned that the number could grow “until case counts start to come down.”
►American Airlines: 136 flights, or 4%.
My flight was canceled, what’s next?
More than ever, travelers returning home on Sunday need to check their flight status before they head to the airport.
Airlines generally rebook travelers on the next available flight but on some airlines, including discounter Allegiant, that’s not always the next day. The Las Vegas-based airline doesn’t operate its routes every day. lt canceled more than a quarter of its flights on Saturday and 22% on New Year’s Eve. So far on Sunday, the airline has canceled 11% of its flights.
Travelers who don’t like the rebooking option should reach out to the airline for other options but be prepared with other flight times and routing.
Myra Gerst and her partner, Eric Watford, spent Saturday scrambling for a Sunday flight from St. Louis to Salt Lake City. Southwest Airlines canceled their Saturday afternoon flight and the earliest the airline could get them out was Sunday at 6:30 p.m.
“We have to go back to work on Monday and we have a one-year-old baby and getting in at midnight before starting our week on Monday at 8 a.m. didn’t sound so good,” Gerst said.
They booked it as a back up but started searching for earlier flights on other airlines. They found a Delta flight early Sunday morning. it wasn’t cheap: 80,000 Delta frequent flyer miles plus $250.
It took off on time.
Don’t want to take the flight an airline rebooks you on? Travelers whose flights are canceled by the airline are eligible for a refund, not just a future travel credit, regardless of the type of ticket purchased or the cause of the cancellation, per Department of Transportation rules.
Do your homework: What airlines owe you when flights are canceled, delayed
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sunday flight cancellations: Winter weather, low staffing to blame
