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Thousands of flight cancellations were pushed into the weeks leading up to New Year’s Day after a winter storm disrupted travel over the Christmas holiday weekend.
About 3,000 flights have been canceled in the U.S. so far on Tuesday, with more than 4,000 canceled on Monday and about 5,000 more canceled on Sunday, according to FlightAware.
Southwest Airlines travelers were hit hardest, with the airline canceling 2,571 flights, or 63% of its schedule. That’s far more than any other airline around the world on Tuesday.His second-highest number of cancellations globally was the airline’s China Eastern flights, with 638 canceled.
Southwest did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Earlier this week, Southwest CEO Bob Jordan called the disruption “the biggest event I’ve ever seen,” according to an interview with The Wall Street Journal. In an interview, he added that the company will operate about a third of its normal schedule in order to keep crews and aircraft in the right geographic locations. The shortened schedule was planned by Thursday, and Jordan said at the time that it could be extended.
This week’s Southwest advisory said the company was “uniquely affected” by winter storm Elliott, a massive snow and wind system that has killed more than 50 people so far. In its latest advisory, updated on , Southwest said its “continued challenges are impacting customers and employees in unacceptable and significant ways.”
“Our sincere apologies for this are just the beginning,” the company added.
read: How to avoid flight delays and cancellations
