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Airlines Cancel Nearly 3,000 More US Flights as Travel Ordeal Continues

Persisting disruptions from Winter Storm Elliott are continuing to tangle travelers' plans, especially for those booked on Southwest Airlines.

Joan E. Solsman Former Senior Reporter
Joan E. Solsman was CNET's senior media reporter, covering the intersection of entertainment and technology. She's reported from locations spanning from Disneyland to Serbian refugee camps, and she previously wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. She bikes to get almost everywhere and has been doored only once.
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Joan E. Solsman
Crowds of travelers stand in line at the airport

A deadly winter storm upended flight plans during one of the year's busiest times for travel. 

 Getty

After a winter storm roiled travel over the Christmas holiday weekend, flight cancellations in the thousands have pushed into the the week leading up to New Year's Day. 

Nearly 3,000 US flights have been canceled so far Tuesday, after more than 4,000 were canceled Monday and another nearly 5,000 were shut down Sunday, according to FlightAware. 

Southwest Airlines' travelers were the hardest hit, with the carrier cancelling 2,571 flights -- or 63% of its schedule. That's far more than any other airline globally Tuesday. The second greatest number of cancellations worldwide was flights through carrier China Eastern, with 638 shut down. 

Earlier this week, Southwest CEO Bob Jordan called the disruptions "the largest-scale event that I've ever seen," according to an interview with The Wall Street Journal. He added in the interview that the company would be operating at about one-third its typical schedule to get crews and aircraft into the right geographic positions. The reduced schedule was planned through Thursday and, Jordan said at the time, could be extended.

Southwest advisories this week have noted that the company was "uniquely affected" by Winter Storm Elliott, a massive system of snow and wind that has resulted in more than 50 deaths so far. In its latest advisory, updated Monday, Southwest said "continuing challenges are impacting our customers and employees in a significant way that is unacceptable."

"Our heartfelt apologies for this are just beginning," the company added. 

Read On: How to Avoid Flight Delays and Cancellations