Winter storm: 2,500-plus flights canceled; Austin airport reopens as Delta extends waivers

Travel conditions for Thursday appear dismal as another snowstorm roars across the nation through the end of the week, hitting parts of the country in which millions were already without electricity in record-breaking cold.

More than 100 million Americans are in the path of the storm as it tracks from the southern Plains to the East Coast over the next few days, the National Weather Service said.

But the nation’s heartland will get some relief over the weekend, the weather service reported, as the frigid air will begin to moderate over the next couple days.

Before it does, much of Texas and the Southeast will have to endure heavy snowfall and “ice accumulations of a light glaze to a few hundredths of an inch” through Thursday. Heavy snow is forecast to move work its way as far north as southern New England on Thursday.

As of 9 a.m. EST Thursday, FlightAware counted more than 2,500 canceled flights and nearly 400 delays. Dallas Fort Worth International still led the world in canceled flights and that airport’s dominant carrier, American Airlines, headed up the list of carriers with the most canceled flights.

In good news, Austin Bergstrom International Airport reopened Wednesday night, though its south terminal, which serves Frontier Airlines and Allegiant Air, remains closed. The airport said it expects to issue an update about Friday operations by this afternoon.

Airline waivers for East Coast, Midwest

Most major U.S. airlines have waivers in place for the mid-Atlantic and Northeast through Friday or Saturday. Southwest and United also covered travel in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee through Friday.

American Airlines

Dates covered: Feb. 18-20

Destinations covered: 37, covering an area from Cleveland to Bangor, Maine. All the New York City and Washington, D.C.-area airports are included, as well as Philadelphia.

Details: https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/travel-alerts.jsp

Delta Air Lines

Dates covered: Feb. 18-20

Destinations covered: 15, including the New York and Washington metro airports, as well as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

Details: https://www.delta.com/us/en/advisories/weather-alerts/northeastern-us-winter-weather

Frontier AIrlines

Dates covered:  Feb. 18-20

Destinations covered: 18, including New York-area airports, as well as Albany and Syracuse; the three Washington area airports; Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Boston.

Details: https://www.flyfrontier.com/alert/?mobile=true

JetBlue Airways

Dates covered: Feb. 18-19

Destinations covered: 15, including New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and airports as far north as Boston and as far south as Richmond, Virginia.

Details: https://www.jetblue.com/travel-alerts

Southwest Airlines

Dates covered: Feb. 18-19

Destinations covered: One of Southwest’s waivers covers travel in and out of Little Rock, Arkansas; Cincinnati; Louisville, Kentucky; Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee. Its second waiver covers 15 destinations across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, from Richmond to Boston.

Details: https://www.southwest.com/html/advisories/swa_travel_advisory_20211121613166659852.html

United Airlines

Dates covered: Feb. 18-20

Destinations covered: One of United’s waivers covers travel throughout 35 airports in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, from West Virginia to Vermont from Wednesday through Saturday. The other covers 15 Midwestern destinations from Nashville to Toronto for Wednesday through Friday.

Details: https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/travel/notices.html

Waivers for southern U.S. 

Delta has extended its waiver for the southern and central Plains States, covering travel through Friday. “Customers with an original ticket issue date on or before Feb. 18, 2021 are eligible for this waiver,” its website said.

American, Southwest and United Airlines, which all have a massive presence in the Lone Star State, still have active flight waivers covering travel for Wednesday and Thursday.

Delta Airlines

Dates covered: Feb. 18-19

Destinations covered: 16, including most major airports in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Details: https://news.delta.com/update-delta-extends-travel-waiver-texas-again-due-winter-weather

American Airlines

Dates covered:  Feb. 18

Destinations covered: 22, including Dallas, Houston and Austin in Texas and Oklahoma City and Tulsa in Oklahoma.

Details: https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/travel-alerts.jsp

United Airlines

Dates covered: Feb. 18-20

Destinations covered: Houston

Details: https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/travel/notices.html

 Contributing: Doyle Rice

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