NEW YORK (AP) – Airline travellers are not only facing sticker shock this Memorial Day weekend, the kickoff to the summer travel season.
They’re also dealing with a pileup of flight cancellations.
More than 1,500 flights were cancelled as of 9.50pm EDT on Saturday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. That followed more than 2,300 cancellations on Friday.
Delta Air Lines suffered the most among US airlines, with more than 250 flights, or nine per cent of its operations, eliminated on Saturday. Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, where Delta is based and has its largest hub, experienced heavy travel delays. On Saturday, five per cent of the flights there were canceled, while 16 per cent were delayed.
Delta noted in an email to The Associated Press that Saturday’s cancellations were due to bad weather and “air traffic control actions”, noting it’s trying to cancel flights at least 24 hours in advance this Memorial Day weekend.