Winter Storm Petra dumped inches of snow, hail and freezing rain in 39 states across the U.S. and this left most parts of the country with dangerous travel conditions. Schools and federal offices were ordered closed on Wednesday, Feb. 20 as the storm unleashes its fury.
Based on the data gathered by Flight Aware, as of 8 p.m., more than 3,000 flights were already canceled and 15,169 were delayed. It appears that the number is still climbing as the night deepens and may possibly affect the flights for the weekend as well.
It was reported that it could take a few days before things get back to normal after the winter storm so airlines are trying to rebook the stranded passengers. Planes are also being reallocated so everyone can go to their destinations as soon as possible.
The hardest hit among the carriers was revealed to be Southwest Airlines as it recorded a total of 415 flight cancellations. Then again, although the winter storm Petra grounded a number of the Southwest planes, the main reason was the company's ongoing operational emergency where mechanical problems prohibited many of its fleet from flying.
As for the cancellations at the airports, currently, the Reagan National Airport has the most number with 42 percent of its departure schedules and 36 percent of its arrivals were canceled. It was added that due to low visibility, the runways at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport was shut down but it was opened later when the snow slowed down, Weather reported.
Other airports including in New York, Chicago and Washington D.C. have big numbers of canceled arrivals and departures. According to CNBC, because of the situation, airlines have waived change fees for all the affected passengers. So far, Delta Air Lines, American, United, Spirit and JetBlue Airlines have already announced they would not charge date-change fees.
Aside from the transportation hassles that the winter storm had caused, there is one report of casualty. A woman in Kansas died in a crash along the icy roads after losing control of her vehicle. She was identified as the 67-year-old Ann Marie Lochner.
Meanwhile, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy already declared a state of emergency a day before the winter storm Petra landed in the state. He also advised the locals to be home or leave work earlier to avoid injuries and fatalities.
