Airlines Playing Catch-Up Thanks To The Weekend's Snow Cancellations

December 21, 2009 at 9:05 AM | by JetSetCD | Comments (0)

What no one wants and what everyone expects for the last weekend before Christmas came true: a snowstorm hit the east coast on Saturday, causing hundreds and hundreds of flight cancellations and delays with affects that rippled across the country's airports. Particularly affected was the Metro DC area, with up to 24 inches in the area even thought Dulles and Reagan National only got around 17 inches themselves—the highest amount they've ever received on a single day in December.

Every carrier suffered with flights into and out of DC suffered in the storm, and we watched United and Virgin America do an especially great job of keeping their passengers informed on Twitter. At many points, the United Twitter was even apologizing for phone wait times.

The weather wasn't much better for Boston and New York City, but the amount of flight cancellations was less. Starting first thing on Sunday, as soon as the snow stopped, the rush to catch up began as airlines put larger airplanes on affected routes and resumed business as usual, if a bit shell-shocked. We bet airports on the east coast had a banner days for Kindle sales and gift buying in the airport shops, so at least there's that minor boost for the economy.

There's no more snow on the forecast for the week, but that doesn't mean that the rain predicted for Christmas won't become another blizzard. But somehow that's okay, since then everyone can hum along with Bing Crosby to "White Christmas" and hope it doesn't affect their return trip.

Related Stories:
· Airlines scramble after winter storm delays flights [CNN]
· Weather coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Jaunted]

Jaunted

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