A winter storm that is now moving eastward from Kentucky to Delaware and the Washington, D.C.-area is causing a second day of major air travel disruptions as the holiday travel period comes to an end.
Airlines had canceled more than 1,600 U.S. flights on Monday as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time, according to FlightAware, with the delay count exceeding 2,600. The Washington vicinity, where Winter Storm Blair is expected to dump between six inches and a foot of snow on Monday, is the epicenter of the cancellations, with 61% of Reagan National Airport flights having been canceled. In addition, 38% of Baltimore departures and 25% of Washington Dulles departures have been canceled.
Other major pain points include St. Louis, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Louisville, Ky., and Richmond, Va.
Winter Storm Blair, which arrived on Sunday as many vacationers were headed home from winter vacations, dumped nearly a foot of snow in Kansas City and St. Louis before beginning an eastward track through the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states. The winter weather led to more than 1,800 U.S. flight cancelations Sunday along with more than 9,000 delays, including a near total shutdown in Kansas City. The disruptions moved as far south as Texas, where high winds and a wintry mix led to 199 cancellations at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.
Airlines are offering travel waivers for flyers impacted by Blair, in most cases including the waiving of fare differences for rebookings.
Flyers who choose not to rebook a canceled flight or a domestic itinerary that is delayed by more than three hours, should also receive an automatic refund.