TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa International Airport has seen multiple delays and cancelations for flights as the new year starts.
As of 6 p.m. Sunday, there are 174 delays and 39 cancellations, tracking service Flight Aware reports.
A mixture of wintry weather combined with the pandemic has frustrated air travelers whose return flights home from the holidays were canceled or delayed in the first days of the new year.
By early afternoon Sunday on the East Coast, more than 2,400 U.S. flights and more than 4,100 worldwide had been canceled, according to FlightAware.
The U.S. airlines with the most cancellations as of 4:15 p.m. ET, according to FlightAware:
- SkyWest - 516
- Southwest - 419
- Delta - 175
- JetBlue - 169
- American - 153
- Mesa - 115
- United - 105
Southwest had the most delays with 1,290, followed by United with 496 and American with 424.
That followed Saturday’s mass cancelations of more than 2,700 U.S. flights, and more than 4,700 worldwide. Saturday’s single-day U.S. toll was the highest since just before Christmas, when airlines began blaming staffing shortages on increasing COVID-19 infections among crews.
At Tampa International Airport, Southwest Airlines had the most delays and cancellations with 12 canceled and 63 delays.
A winter storm that hit the Midwest on Saturday made Chicago the worst place in the country for travelers throughout the weekend as the region’s airports continued to recover Sunday morning. About a quarter of all flights at O’Hare Airport were canceled Sunday.
The airports with the most cancellations Sunday were O'Hare with 277 followed by Denver International, Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta, Newark and LaGuardia.
American Airlines said most of Sunday’s canceled flights had been canceled ahead of time to avoid last-minute disruptions at the airport.