Airlines Cancel Thousands Of Flights On East Coast Amid Major Winter Storm
CHICAGO (CBS) -- With a major winter storm dumping snow all the way from North Carolina to New England on Thursday, airlines have canceled thousands of flights, and the impact has been felt across the country.
Most Thursday morning flights from Chicago to the Northeast have been canceled, with at least 125 flights canceled at O'Hare International Airport, and more than 30 canceled at Midway International Airport as of 7 a.m.
For passengers flying out of Midway, Southwest Airlines has issued a travel advisory for several East Coast cities through Friday, due to the year's first big winter storm.
Based on wintry weather conditions along the east coast, scheduled service may be disrupted. More details and flexible rebooking instructions are available here: https://t.co/vZXz7H2xFe pic.twitter.com/QlyzeKMzQl
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) January 3, 2018
Daniel Synnot was flying from O'Hare to Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, so was avoiding the big snowstorm on the East Coast.
"Rough on them. I'm glad I'm not going there," he said.
One family traveling from O'Hare to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, was glad the winter storm was not hitting Chicago.
"It's bad enough around here, let alone being out there," Sparky Holze said.
Blizzard warnings and winter storm warnings have been issued along the Atlantic coast from Virginia Beach to Maine.
In addition to thousands of canceled flights, the storm has prompted Amtrak to run modified schedules for many of its trains along the East Coast.