US Winter Storm Triggers Most Flight Cancellations Since Covid

A massive winter storm sweeping across the US triggered what is shaping up to be one of the worst air travel meltdowns since the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing some major airlines to cancel more than half of their scheduled flights.

More than 16,000 US flights have been canceled from Saturday through Monday, according to data from flight-tracking website FlightAware, as the storm pushed into major population centers and snarled airline networks nationwide. Airlines scrapped more than 10,300 US flights on Sunday alone, according to FlightAware.

Bloomberg's Julie Fine joins Bloomberg Intelligence to report.

US power grids are under mounting pressure following a winter storm that unleashed deep cold and heavy snow and ice from Texas to Maine, driving up heating demand and raising the risk of blackouts.

The storm affected millions of people across the eastern two-thirds of the US, with 765,000 homes and businesses without electricity as of 1:30 p.m. New York time as snow and ice ravaged local distribution lines, according to PowerOutage.us. More than half of the outages were reported in three states: Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana.

Power lines during a winter storm in Irving, Texas, on Jan. 25.

So far, power grids have avoided large system-level cuts, but sub-zero temperatures and dangerous wind chills are set to linger all week, testing seasonal power demand records from Texas to New England. Some areas have reported extensive damage to trees and power lines and blocked roads, which could slow electricity restoration, said Nicole Joniak, a meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc.

“Power may take days to be restored across the hardest hit areas,” she said. “This will be especially dangerous, as temperatures will be well below historical averages across much of the eastern and central United States this week.”

More than an inch of ice blanketed the Southern Plains and Southeast, including parts of Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina, Joniak said. The northeast had the heaviest snow, with more than 23 inches (58 centimeters) in New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. In New York City, 11.4 inches fell in Central Park, according to AccuWeather.

--------

Watch Bloomberg Radio LIVE on YouTube

Weekdays 7am-6pm ET

Follow us on X

Subscribe to our Podcasts:

Bloomberg Daybreak

Bloomberg Surveillance

Bloomberg Intelligence

Balance of Power

Bloomberg Businessweek

Listen on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app:

Apple CarPlay

Android Auto

Visit our YouTube channels:

Bloomberg Podcasts

Bloomberg Television

Bloomberg Originals