Flight cancellations pile up as winter storm, 737 Max 9 grounding disrupt travel

Airlines
canceled
more
than
3,000
U.S.
flights
Friday
as
they
grappled
with
winter
weather
and
the

grounding
of


Boeing
737
Max
9
planes. 

Storms
in
the
Midwest
helped
drive
more
than
8,400
delays,
with
disruptions
around
Chicago
and
Detroit,
major
hubs
for
the
largest
U.S.
carriers,
according
to
flight-tracker
FlightAware.
Disruptions
continued,
with
1,700
cancellations
and
more
than
700
delays
as
of
Saturday
morning.

About
40%
of
flights
at
Chicago’s
O’Hare
International
Airport,
a
hub
for


United
Airlines
and


American
Airlines,
were
canceled
after
a
snowstorm
led
to
an
over

two-hour
ground
stop.
Detroit
Metropolitan
Wayne
County
Airport,
a


Delta
Air
Lines
hub,
had
more
than
half
of
flights
Friday
either
delayed
or
canceled
due
to
the
storms.

Southwest
Airlines,
which
has
a
big
operation
out
of
Chicago
Midway,
canceled
more
than
400
flights,
while
over
1,500
were
delayed.

United
canceled
about
10%
of
its
mainline
flights
and
delayed
about
30%.

Last
week,
the
Federal
Aviation
Administration
grounded


Boeing
737
Max
9s
so
the
jets
could
undergo
inspections
after
a
door
plug
blew
off
an


Alaska
Airlines
flight.
That
grounding
has
continued
to
disrupt
travel
for
United
and
Alaska
Airlines,
the
only
U.S.
airlines
operating
the
aircraft.

Airlines
are
awaiting
the
FAA’s
approval
of
inspection
instructions
from
Boeing.
The
FAA
said
late
Friday
that
it
needed
more
data
on
inspections
before
it
could
approve
those
directions.

“Upon
a
full
review
of
the
data
the
FAA
will
make
a
determination
whether
the
instructions
satisfy
compliance
with
the
highest
standard
of
safety,”
the
agency
said.

Alaska
Airlines
said
Friday
that
they
would
cancel
all
flights
on
the
Max
9
through
Sunday
as
it
waits
for
documentation
from


Boeing
and
the
FAA
to
begin
inspections.

About
20%
of
Alaska’s
flights
were
canceled
Friday
and
more
than
10%
were
delayed,
FlightAware
data
showed.
Alaska
said
that
between
110
and
150
flights
per
day
would
be
impacted
by
the
grounding
of
the
Max
9.

United
Airlines
said
it
canceled
flights
scheduled
to
use
a
Max
9
through
Tuesday.
It
has
about
200
flights
a
day
scheduled
on
the
aircraft
but
it
will
use
another
plane
for
30
of
those
flights.

“By
canceling
this
far
in
advance,
we’re
trying
to
create
more
certainty
for
our
customers
and
more
flexibility
for
our
frontline
teams
to
do
their
work,”
United
said
in
a
statement
late
Friday.
“Those
things
will
be
especially
important
as
we
also
manage
disruptive
winter
weather
throughout
much
of
the
country.”