CNN
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More than 7,000 flights have been impacted by the severe summer storms that are pounding the eastern United States.
Nine major airports now have ground stops, including Atlanta, Charlotte, Washington DC’s three major airports, New York City’s three major airports, and Philadelphia International Airport.
Delta Airlines had around 350 cancellations, or 10% of its schedule, and more than 800 flight delays, according to Flight Aware. Overall, more than 1,300 US flights have been cancelled and at least another 5,900 are delayed, according to data from Flight Aware.
Twenty percent of flights flying out of Reagan National Airport and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport have been cancelled.
“Due to continued severe weather that impacted our Atlanta hub, Delta teams are working hard to recover the operation and we apologize to our customers who’ve experienced delays to their travel plans,” a Delta spokesperson said in a statement to CNN.
The Federal Aviation Administration reported it was slowing flights headed towards New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. area airports because of thunderstorms. It warned of impacts this afternoon to flights from Florida north to New York due to the storms. Around 120 million people in the Eastern US could be impacted by severe weather Monday.
While the weather may be to partly to blame, these delays and cancellations have been par for the course for months now. Staffing shortages affecting airlines and traffic control personnel have caused ground stops throughout the summer travel season. The FAA said today it has limited ability to direct New York flights north through Canadian airspace because of “staffing issues” in Canada.
