Workers remove snow from the sidewalk after a blizzard left several inches of snow in Ankeny, Iowa, United States, January 12, 2024. REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer
Airlines in the United States canceled more than 2,000 flights on Friday after a massive winter storm knocked out power and affected businesses in 12 states ahead of a likely brutal freeze over the weekend.
A total of 2,058 flights were canceled and 5,846 flights were delayed as of 5.30 p.m. ET, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.
Southwest Airlines led the list of cancellations with 401 flights, followed by SkyWest at 358.
“We expect some operational challenges due to the weather in the Midwest today and potentially tomorrow due to the winter weather in the region,” Delta Air Lines said.
Southwest Airlines said in a travel advisory that some of its flights in Chicago, Detroit, and Omaha could be impacted.
READ: Massive winter storm batters US, knocks out power to over 300,000 users
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had on Thursday warned that clouds, snow, and wind force could delay flights at certain airports.
United has scrapped 284 flights so far, with some cancellations extending to Saturday as it awaits regulatory nod to resume operating Boeing’s 737 MAX 9 jets.
Screens display flight information at the Terminal C in Dallas Fort Worth Airport, in Dallas, Texas, United States, January 12, 2024. REUTERS/Marco Bello
The carrier said in a statement that it was operating some planned flights by switching to other aircraft types.
The FAA had on Thursday launched a formal investigation on 737 MAX 9 after a cabin panel blew off an Alaska Airlines flight last week in mid-air, forcing an emergency landing.
READ: Over half a million on US East Coast lose power due to winter storm
Meanwhile, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned that heavy snows and fierce winds of up to 60 miles per hour (96 kph) are expected to continue into Saturday, January 13, as blizzards arrived in much of the upper Midwest on Friday morning.
“This storm system is definitely dangerous,” said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the NWS’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. The service cautioned against unnecessary travel, noting that visibility on some roads in Chicago was less than half a mile.
Taylor warned of risks of frostbite and hypothermia in Iowa, where temperatures for most of the state were forecast to drop below zero degrees Fahrenheit (minus 18 degrees Celsius). The forecast for Monday, January 15, in Des Moines, the state capital, was a low of minus 18 F (minus 28 C).