The main airlines, including Delta and Alaska, cancel hundreds of flights
Transporters are preparing for major disruptions during the busy vacation travel weekend.
Celebrating the holidays can be one of the highlights of the year while we cross the country to spend time with the family and loved ones. But when things start to go wrong, which is supposed to be the most wonderful moment of the year can quickly turn into A travel nightmare . Theft can be particularly sensitive to all interruptions, most carriers generally anticipating larger crowds and busy airports . However, the major airlines announce that they are already canceling hundreds of flights in the holiday season at the holiday weekend, including Delta and Alaska. Read the rest to see how these travel changes could affect your plans.
Read this then: Southwest finally changes the way it takes flights .
A major storm should strike the United States during busy vacation travel days.
From purchasing requirements to accommodation tasks, the holiday season already has a lot of its own annual constraints integrated there. But each season can also look like a roulette game with the elements when anyone who took the road or taking the sky hopes a clear forecast. Unfortunately, it seems that this year could complicate travel arrangements for large expanses from the United States
The National Weather Service provides for a Major winter storm This should go from one ocean to another and will affect the central and northern regions from December 20 and head for the weekend while it moves east, Bloomberg reports. Large cities like Chicago could see Blizzard conditions bring up to eight inches of snow in the middle of 55% per hour winds. Freezing temperatures should also spread as far south as Alabama and the Gulf coast.
"It will be a fairly impactful storm that meets a large part of the country", " Bob Ouves , a senior branch forecastist from the American weather prediction center, said Bloomberg .
Violent time must also cause travel chaos, especially in some of the country's busiest airport centers. And now, some carriers are trying to get ahead of the curve by modifying their schedules in advance.
Airlines like Alaska and Delta already cancel hundreds of flights due to the approaching storm.
While bad weather is starting to cross the United States, one of the busiest weeks of travel of the year is already feeling the effects . On December 19, Alaska Airlines announced that it had pre-proveing about 100 flights for the next day at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Komo Affiliate Komo reports. But as snow, wind and icy temperatures reach the northwest, carriers are Earth more planes . Since the early hours of the morning on December 20, 191 flights have been canceled at the airport and 40 delays, according to Flightaware.
In addition to Alaska, Delta was also forced to modify its schedule, with 47 departures - or 26% of its flights from the airport for the day, so far and 10 others delayed on December 20, according to Flightaware. Skywest, the Delta regional subsidiary, the airline, also published 37 cancellations and a delay at the same time.
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Alaska Airlines is particularly vulnerable to poor weather conditions in Seattle.
As it should be as soon as the severe conditions expected, unnecessary conditions in Seattle can also enter the flight schedules for Alaska airlines specifically because it is forced to slow down departures and connections through its main center. In a blog article, the company said the disturbances may have a Disproportionate effect on travel in the coming days.
“Seattle is the hometown of Alaska, and our operations represent the largest percentage (by a wide margin) of departures and arrivals at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) compared to other airlines. For this reason, more of our customers are impacted when something has an impact on operations in Seattle, "wrote the airline." For the context, SEA has a very small footprint compared to other metropolitan airports. This forces our ability to deil the whole of our flight calendar in winter weather. Because space does not allow this type of volume, we must clarify our schedule to advance planes. ""
However, the carrier also explained why he already canceled flights before the storm. "When our forecasts tell us to expect the snow or the ice, we know that we have to act," wrote the company. "Freezing temperatures and precipitation means that we have to set up our plane before being able to fly safely. A bit like putting chains or studded tires on your car before taking a snowy road, diverted planes slow down our operation. This means that we cannot move our normal number of planes in and outside the airport. In order to reduce traffic jams, we must proactively cancel flights from our schedule so that we can maintain so many planes as possible. "
"If we have to cancel thefts, we try to let the impacted guests know as soon as possible.
The airline urges passengers to plan in advance and prepare for any sudden change.
For the moment, Alaska encourages passengers to prepare for possible last minute changes at their schedule. The airline suggests downloading its mobile application so that it can check the condition of the flight and obtain updates quickly, especially before going to the airport. The company also advises you to give you a little more time than usual to pass security and the airport. The carrier says that anyone traveling on a canceled flight will be contacted and placed on another flight. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB
But Alaska is not the only airline to anticipate significant problems in the coming week. Delta has already Travel derogation issued For passengers affected by the storm in Seattle and Portland, Oregon, from December 20 to December 22. And United Airlines expressed his own renunciation For dozens of Midwest, Northeast and Midatlantic airports, including Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., Boston and Toronto for original travel dates from December 22 to December 25.