Airlines canceled hundreds of weekend flights and thousands more were delayed as storms in Florida slowed traffic in one of the country's top travel destinations during spring break.
More than 5,900 U.S. flights were delayed or canceled on Saturday.
Thunderstorms are more challenging for airlines because they are harder to predict and plan for compared with other systems like winter storms and hurricanes, which cause airlines to cancel flights hours in advance.
Disruptions due to storms tend to cascade because crews and planes are left out of position. As Covid cases declined this winter, airlines were forced to staff up to handle the surge in travel demand. Staffing shortages made flight disruptions worse last year.
Southwest Airlines canceled 520 flights or 14 percent of its Saturday schedule. About 10% of Southwest flights were canceled on Sunday.
The airline paused departures early in the day to perform checks on a system that had been reset as part of regular maintenance. Pre-departure paperwork is one of the tasks that those systems are used for.
Southwest said in a message to flight attendants that their top priorities are protecting the Crew network, ensuring crews have hotel rooms, and minimizing the effects felt by customers as they work to avoid disruptions to their spring break travel plans.
The airline will waive fare differences for affected customers so they can rebook themselves online without waiting on the phone, a spokesman said.
Air traffic controllers slowed or paused inbound traffic at several Florida airports on Saturday. Almost a third of the departures from the city were canceled.
American Airlines said in a statement that the weather in Florida and the resulting air traffic control initiatives impacted their operations.
The weather in Florida also affected Delta's operation on Saturday. Roughly 600 flights were delayed because of the Saturday schedules.
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