Winter Storm Disrupts Thousands of Flights on a Busy Holiday Travel Day

Travelers across the United States are being split into two groups, one of which is being spared, at least for the moment.

More than half of departing flights at major airports in Cleveland, Buffalo and Chicago were canceled on Friday.

Alaska Airlines and Allegiant Air canceled more than one third of their flights. There were more than 400 flights that were delayed. 55 percent and 72 percent were the highest proportions of cancellation reported by the Canadian low cost carrier.

As of Friday morning, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, and Los Angeles airports were seeing less than 3% of departures canceled.

On Friday, Neary was flying from Houston to West Palm Beach, Fla., by way of Atlanta. I was worried about the effects of storms on my trip, but I haven't seen any delays or canceled flights.

Many travelers are bracing for the worst as a wave of cold weather is expected to arrive in New York by Friday evening.

Travel volume is approachingprepandemic levels as the weather disruptions are striking. In the month of December, it was predicted that over 7 million Americans would fly and over 100 million would drive to their holiday destinations.

Travelers complained on social media about long lines at airport check-in counters and delays on the tarmac due to the expected surge in travel for the holiday season. San Diego and Houston had been spared so far, but disruptions elsewhere in the country began to affect them.

The headaches for travelers in the East Coast were already beginning by Friday morning. One-third of departures at La Guardia Airport were scratched, and 25 percent of outbound flights were canceled at Boston'sLogan Airport. Almost half of the arrivals in Buffalo had been canceled.

Pete Buttigieg said the whole system felt it when one or two major hubs were affected. There are multiple major airline hubs affected.

Many departing flights have been canceled because of bad weather at other airports, but not because of bad conditions at that airport.

Some travelers affected by the severe weather will not have to pay change fees.

Travel on the ground and in the air was difficult due to ice and snow. There was an abundance of caution that led to the cancellation of trains on the Midwest routes. Several Vermont routes were added on Friday.

King County Metro suspended all bus service due to poor road conditions. Bus fares were being discounted in South Dakota.

More than a million customers were left without electricity and caused delays for drivers.