Nearly 1,500 flights canceled as massive winter storm system blankets northern US
Nearly 1,500 U.S. flights have been canceled and more than 3,300 others have been delayed as of 3:25 pm ET Wednesday, according to FlightAware, as a massive winter storm system spanned the northern half of the country.
Nearly 23 million Americans are under a winter storm warning and nearly 35 million are under a winter weather advisory.
Travelers who planned to fly out Wednesday should check their flight status with their airline and, if needed, passenger rights on the Department of Transportation’s Airline Customer Service Dashboard. Anyone whose flight is canceled has the right to a refund, regardless of the type of ticket booked, according to DOT rules.
Southwest, SkyWest and Delta have the highest cancellations among U.S. airlines, impacting between 6 and 17% of their scheduled flights.
Flight delayed or canceled?:What you need to know and what airlines owe travelers.
American Airlines
American issued a waiver across many Midwest, Rocky Mountains and Great Plains airports. If you’re booked on American to travel to, from or through any of the following cities through Thursday, you can change your itinerary to fly on Monday or sooner without paying a fare difference or change fee.
- Appleton, Wisconsin (ATW)
- Aspen, Colorado (ASE)
- Billings, Montana (BIL)
- Bismarck, North Dakota (BIS)
- Boise, Idaho (BOI)
- Bozeman, Montana (BZN)
- Cedar Rapids, Iowa (CID)
- Chicago, Illinois (ORD)
- Colorado Springs, Colorado (COS)
- Denver, Colorado (DEN)
- Des Moines, Iowa (DSM)
- Detroit, Michigan (DTW)
- Durango, Colorado (DUR)
- Fargo, North Dakota (FAR)
- Flagstaff, Arizona (FLG)
- Flint, Michigan (FNT)
- Grand Island, Nebraska (GRI)
- Grand Junction, Colorado (GJT)
- Grand Rapids, Michigan (GRR)
- Green Bay, Wisconsin (GRB)
- Idaho Falls, Idaho (IDA)
- Jackson Hole, Wyoming (JAC)
- Kalamazoo / Battle Creek, Michigan (AZO)
- La Crosse, Wisconsin (LSE)
- Madison, Wisconsin (MSN)
- Marquette, Michigan (MQT)
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin (MKE)
- Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota (MSP)
- Missoula, Montana (MSO)
- Montrose / Telluride, Colorado (MTJ)
- Omaha, Nebraska (OMA)
- Rapid City, South Dakota (RAP)
- Rochester, Minnesota (RST)
- Salt Lake City, Utah (SLC)
- Santa Fe, New Mexico (SAF)
- Sioux Falls, South Dakota (FSD)
- St. George, Utah (SGU)
- Steamboat Springs / Hayden, Colorado (HDN)
- Traverse City, Michigan (TVC)
- Vail / Eagle, Colorado (EGE)
- Wausau, Wisconsin (CWA)
Delta Air Lines
Delta has issued a travel waiver for flights booked to, from and through the following cities in Minnesota: Bemidji, Brainerd, Duluth, Hibbing, International Falls, Minneapolis and Rochester. Customers who had flights booked through Friday may reschedule without penalty by Monday. Rebooked travel must also begin by Monday. If those dates won’t work, customers may cancel their reservation and apply their flight credit toward future travel.
The airline has also issued a Rocky Mountain region waiver for Calgary, Canada; Jackson, Wyoming and Salt Lake City, Utah. Travelers booked to fly to, from or through those cities Wednesday can move their itinerary to Saturday or sooner without paying a change fee or fare difference, even on basic economy tickets
Southwest Airlines
Customers with flights booked through the following cities may rebook or fly standby within 14 days of their original travel dates without paying extra fees. More details are available on Southwest’s website.
Monday-Wednesday, Feb. 20-22
- Bozeman/Yellowstone, MT (BZN)
- Colorado Springs, CO (COS)
- Denver, CO (DEN)
- Montrose/Telluride/Crested Butte, CO (MTJ)
- Salt Lake City, UT (SLC)
- Steamboat Springs/Hayden, CO (HDN)
- Monday-Thursday, February 20-23
- Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN (MSP)
Tuesday-Thursday, Feb. 21-23
- Detroit, MI (DTW)
- Grand Rapids, MI (GRR)
- Milwaukee, WI (MKE)
- Portland, ME (PWM)
United Airlines
United has waivers in place for the Midwest, North Plains and Northeast. Here are the terms:
Northeast
If you’re traveling to, from or through the following cities on Wednesday or Thursday, you can change your travel to Tuesday or sooner without paying a fare difference or change fee.
- Albany, NY (ALB)
- Bangor, ME (BGR)
- Boston, MA (BOS)
- Buffalo, NY (BUF)
- Burlington, VT (BTV)
- Hartford, CT (BDL)
- Ithaca, NY (ITH)
- Manchester, NH (MHT)
- Portland, ME (PWM)
- Rochester, NY (ROC)
- Syracuse, NY (SYR)
Midwest
If you’re traveling to, from or through the following cities on Wednesday or Thursday, you can change your ticket to fly on Monday or sooner without paying a change fee or fare difference.
- Appleton, WI (ATW)
- Buffalo, NY (BUF)
- Cedar Rapids, IA (CID)
- Chicago-O’Hare, IL (ORD)
- Cleveland, OH (CLE)
- Des Moines, IA (DSM)
- Detroit, MI (DTW)
- Duluth, MN (DLH)
- Eau Claire, WI (EAU)
- Erie, PA (ERI)
- Fargo, ND (FAR)
- Flint, MI (FNT)
- Fort Dodge, IA (FOD)
- Fort Wayne, IN (FWA)
- Grand Rapids, MI (GRR)
- Green Bay, WI (GRB)
- Hancock, MI (CMX)
- Ithaca, NY (ITH)
- Lincoln, NE (LNK)
- Madison, WI (MSN)
- Mason City, IA (MCW)
- Milwaukee, WI (MKE)
- Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN (MSP)
- Moline, IL (MLI)
- Omaha, NE (OMA)
- Rochester, NY (ROC)
- Sioux City, IA (SUX)
- Sioux Falls, SD (FSD)
- South Bend, IN (SBN)
- Syracuse, NY (SYR)
- Toronto, ON, CA (YYZ)
- Traverse City, MI (TVC)
North Plains
If you’re traveling to, from or through any of the following cities on Wednesday, you can change your ticket to fly on Sunday or sooner without paying any change fees or fare difference.
- Aspen, CO (ASE)
- Billings, MT (BIL)
- Bozeman, MT (BZN)
- Casper, WY (CPR)
- Cheyenne, WY (CYS)
- Cody, WY (COD)
- Colorado Springs, CO (COS)
- Denver, CO (DEN)
- Durango, CO (DRO)
- Eau Claire, WI (EAU)
- Gillette, WY (GCC)
- Great Falls, MT (GTF)
- Hayden, CO (HDN)
- Idaho Falls, ID (IDA)
- Jackson, WY (JAC)
- Kalispell, MT (FCA)
- Laramie, WY (LAR)
- Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN (MSP)
- Missoula, MT (MSO)
- Rapid City, SD (RAP)
- Riverton, WY (RIW)
- Rock Springs, WY (RKS)
- Sheridan, WY (SHR)
- Sioux City, IA (SUX)
- Sioux Falls, SD (FSD)
- Vail/Eagle, CO (EGE)
JetBlue
JetBlue is offering travel waivers in certain Northeast, Midwest and Rocky Mountain destinations.
Those flying to, from or through the following cities on Wednesday or Thursday can change their reservations to travel on Monday or sooner without paying a change fee or fare difference.
- Albany, NY (ALB)
- Buffalo, NY (BUF)
- Cleveland, OH (CLE)
- Detroit, MI (DTW)
- Milwaukee, WI (MKE)
- Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN (MSP)
- Rochester, NY (ROC)
- Syracuse, NY (SYR)
Meanwhile, for the cities listed below, travelers booked to fly to, from or through on Wednesday only can move their trip to Saturday or sooner without paying a change fee or fare difference.
- Denver, CO (DEN)
- Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN (MSP)
- Salt Lake City, UT (SLC)
- Steamboat Springs, CO (HDN)
Frontier Airlines
Frontier’s waiver allows passengers booked to travel to, from or through the following cities on Wednesday or Thursday to rebook or cancel their trip without paying a fee or fare difference.
- Cedar Rapids, IA (CID)
- Denver, CO (DEN)
- Des Moines, IA (DSM)
- Fargo, ND (FAR)
- Green Bay, WI (GRB)
- Madison, WI (MSN)
- Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN (MSP)
- Milwaukee, WI (MKE)
- Omaha, NE (OMA)
- Salt Lake City, UT (SLC)
- Sioux Falls, SD (FSD)
Spirit Airlines
Under Spirit’s waiver, passengers booked to travel to, from or through the following cities can change their trip to fly on Monday or sooner without paying a change fee or fare difference.
- Denver, CO (DEN)
- Minneapolis, MN (MSP)
- Salt Lake City, UT (SLC)