Fresno airport sees cancellations amid holiday travel delays from COVID, weather
Fresno Yosemite International Airport was not spared from cancellations during the busy holiday weekend.
There were seven canceled Fresno flights in 24 hours through New Year’s Day morning, according to flight tracking data from the website FlightAware.com.
Those Fresno departures included a United Airlines flight to Chicago and an American Airlines to Phoenix on Saturday morning, according to the airport’s own records.
The Fresno airport’s Twitter page recommended travelers check their flight status early. “Please check with your airline for flight status information and download your airline’s app for the latest travel updates,” the account tweeted.
By late morning Saturday, almost 2,500 U.S. flights and more than 4,300 worldwide had been canceled, according to FlightAware.
That is the highest single-day toll yet since just before Christmas, when airlines began blaming staffing shortages on increasing COVID-19 infections among crews. More than 12,000 U.S. flights have been canceled since Dec. 24.
Saturday’s disruptions weren’t just due to the virus, however. Fresno saw fog early in the morning that had cleared by lunchtime, but experienced fewer flight disruptions than much larger airports.
Wintry weather made Chicago the worst place in the country for travelers, with 800 flights scrubbed at O’Hare Airport and more than 250 at Midway Airport. Forecasts called for nine inches of snow. Denver, Detroit and Newark, New Jersey, were hit with at least 100 cancellations each.
Southwest Airlines, which has major operations at Chicago Midway and Denver, canceled more than 450 flights nationwide, or 13% of its schedule, by midmorning. American, Delta, United and JetBlue scrubbed more than 100 flights apiece.
SkyWest, a regional carrier that operates flights under the names American Eagle, Delta Connection and United Express, grounded more than 400 flights, or 21% of its schedule.
Among international carriers, China Eastern scrubbed more than 500 flights, or about one-fourth of its total, and Air China canceled more than 200 flights, one-fifth of its schedule, according to FlightAware.
Airlines say they are taking steps to reduce cancellations. United is offering to pay pilots triple or more of their usual wages for picking up open flights through mid-January. Southwest and others have also raised premium pay for some workers.
When winter weather hit the Pacific Northwest earlier this week, Alaska Airlines urged customers to delay any “non-essential” trips that were planned through this weekend. With full flights over the New Year’s holiday, the airline said it wasn’t sure it could rebook stranded passengers for at least three days.
Travelers who stuck to the roads instead of the skies faced challenges, too. Transportation officials in the Midwest warned motorists that a mix of rain and snow could make roads slippery and reduce visibility, leading to hazardous driving conditions.
The Associated press contributed to this story.
This story was originally published January 1, 2022 at 11:30 AM.
