Why So Many Flights Were Canceled or Delayed This Weekend

Why So Many Flights Were Canceled or Delayed This Weekend

Thousands of travelers were stranded in airports over the weekend as thunderstorms in Florida curtailed operations and technology issues left one of the largest airlines scrambling to recover during the spring break travel rush. More than 10,000 U.S. flights were canceled or delayed, according to flight tracker FlightAware, with another 5,085 delayed and 779 canceled on Monday.



“Absolute madness,” one person wrote on Twitter to Southwest Airlines. “Very disappointed,” another wrote to JetBlue Airways. Some passengers said they waited on hold with airlines for hours, while others stood in long lines to speak with an agent to get their canceled flights rescheduled. Southwest alone canceled 920 flights between Saturday and Sunday, with 43% of its scheduled Saturday flights delayed. On Sunday, JetBlue canceled 25% of its flights. Alaska Airlines, Frontier, Spirit and American Airlines also reported similar delays and cancellations.











Here’s everything that went wrong.



Inclement weather



Heavy rain and damaging winds across central Florida on Saturday were the main cause of air travel disruptions over the weekend. At one point in the afternoon, forecasters were tracking a tornado threat in between Jacksonville and Gainesville, prompting air traffic controllers to institute a “flow constrained