Los Angeles – Flight cancellations, delays and other transportation problems piled up on Christmas Day as nearly a week of winter storms rocked much of the United States.
According to flight-tracking website FlightAware, more than 2,200 flights to and from the United States were canceled by 5:30 p.m. Sunday, and nearly 5,800 flights that could still take off were delayed. Christmas Day is traditionally a bright day for passenger flights.
The airports in the Deep South were most affected on Christmas Day, demonstrating the magnitude and impact of the storm. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) – the busiest airport in the world – had the highest number of cancellations and delays.
No. 2 was at Denver International in the Rocky Mountains over 1,000 miles away.
Denver International kept a sense of humor during the stressful event, posting a tweet that appeared to show an airport employee playing “Jingle Bells” on the fiddle.
However, the effects of the storm are easing in parts of the west. Temperatures at Denver International at 3:30 PM MT were already well above freezing at 46F (8C).
Things were still too rough and humorless in hard-hit western New York.
Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BUF) has tweeted that it will be completely closed until 11am. Tuesday, December 27 — We’re extending our closure, which was due to end at 11am on Monday.
According to the National Weather Service, at 3:00 PM ET, BUF had a temperature of 20 degrees Fahrenheit (-7 degrees) and winds of 24 miles per hour.
Tough week for flying
The arrival of a major storm was ill-timed for travelers as flights over the Christmas week began to return to pre-pandemic levels.
According to FlightAware, a total of 3,487 flights were canceled on Christmas Eve. Friday was his worst day with 5,934 cancellations, while Thursday had about 2,700 cancellations.
Across the eastern two-thirds of the country, this massive winter weather is expected to ease slowly towards the final week of the year. As of 5:30 PM ET, there were still over 260 preemptive cancellations for Monday.
bus and train services
On Sunday morning, Greyhound posted the latest bus service chaos centered on routes to and from Buffalo, New York and Syracuse.
If you’re taking a Greyhound bus, click here for bus updates.
Amtrak’s last service alert was posted on Friday. He later said that due to bad weather, “Amtrak has had several services and cancellations between now and Sunday, December 25.”
The railway company said affected customers should be able to board trains departing at the same time or on different days. Click here to get the latest Amtrak Service Alerts on Delays or visit @AmtrakAlerts on Twitter. For Northeast alerts, visit @AmtrakNECAlerts.
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