Unplanned remote work and a trip to the aquarium: Passengers scramble after flight cancellations
winter weather pummeled large parts of the United States, with an arctic cold front stretching from Texas to the East Coast, her short trip was extended indefinitely. “We weren’t supposed to be working remotely and, obviously, I didn’t plan on this happening,” Reeves, who works in accounts payable for a headlight distributor, told USA TODAY.
Her Frontier Airlines flight to Dallas was canceled Monday, and the next available nonstop flight with the airline was not until Wednesday night. Reeves canceled the reservation and rebooked a Tuesday flight with United Airlines, using her great aunt’s points with the airline to partially pay for it, only to have that canceled as well.Â
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Reeves is hardly alone. Many travelers’ plans were upended as airlines canceled over 1,100 U.S. flights Monday and more than 1,700 flights Tuesday, and delayed thousands more. Some airports in Texas and New York issued ground stops due to the wintry weather, and airlines issued waivers for impacted passengers.
disrupted flights last week, and follows major disruptions to air travel over the winter in December, culminating in Southwest Airlines cancelling nearly 17,000 flights in the last 10 days of December.
One traveler’s delay is another’s day trip
Legion Ambrose flew from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Dallas Tuesday morning on his way to visit his father and sister in Tampa, Florida, for a week-long trip. But after arriving, the second leg of the 19-year-old college student’s Southwest flight was canceled and he and his fellow passengers had to deplane.
requires them to offer a refund to all affected passengers, even those who bought a nonrefundable ticket.Â
Policies around delays, however, are set by individual carriers.
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interactive dashboard last year that allows travelers to find out exactly what they’re owed depending on their airline.
Reeves was able to stay with her family and use her parents’ personal computer for work, and is tentatively scheduled to leave on Wednesday, but is wary of her newest flight’s prospects.
“I’m just grateful that I can work remotely and catch meetings from here in Colorado, but it is definitely stressful to stay somewhere three to four days longer than you planned on,” she said.
Contributing: Zach Wichter and Eve Chen, USA TODAY