Photo Credit: Fly For Fun
Saying that there were some cancelled flights on the East Coast on Thursday is a bit of an understatement. Over 1,000 flights were cancelled due to another hefty snowstorm. Earlier in the month, East Coast snowstorms caused 13,000 flight cancellations.
Luckily for travelers, airlines announced that they would not charge additional fees for those looking to change their flights to a different day to avoid the harsh climate; although, since most flights were cancelled, did guests of the friendly skies really have a choice?
If flights were not flat out cancelled, travelers may have had to wait around to see if the weather cleared up. According to the Associated Press:
"The Transportation Department has new rules starting in April that will penalize airlines who strand passengers on the tarmac for more than three hours. Airlines had argued that the new rule would increase cancellations to avoid situations where a plane is likely to face a lengthy take-off delay."
Even though the rule is not in place yet, it seems that airlines are planning ahead in two ways--learning to make the call early on as to whether a flight will take off as scheduled, and preparing for the rule by already making these decisions a couple months in advance.
Airlines that cancelled flights included Continental, Delta, and US Airways. Topping the list, Delta cancelled over 400 flights. More than 1/3 of American Airlines flights in New York and Philadelphia were cancelled. Even though flights number themselves dwindled, the actual airports remained open.
Safety is every flyer's concern, but one of the last things that most want to deal with when they are traveling is cancelled flights.
