Nearly 4,000 flights across the United States were delayed or canceled Monday after powerful storms ripped through the parts of the country, mainly in the Southeast and the Ohio Valley.
Data from FlightAware showed that on Monday at noon ET, 2,974 flights within, into or out of the US were delayed and another 1,007 were canceled.
United Airlines (UAL)was faring the worst of the American domestic airlines. About 7% of its schedule, or 222 flights, was canceled and another 12%, or 357 flights, was delayed as of noon ET. Delta (DAL) wasn’t far behind, with 4% (171 flights) of its schedule canceled and 10% (358 flights) delayed.
The delays and cancellations come after thunderstorms battered parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and the Ohio Valley Sunday evening, according to the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center. More than 700,000 people across the region are without power
Meanwhile, more than 50 million people from Arizona to Louisiana faced “oppressive” heat on Sunday in a significant heat wave that is forecast to spread and continue through the beginning of the July 4 holiday week. Experts say it could potentially break several high temperature records across the region.
The four US airports most affected Monday morning are all major hubs for either United or Delta: New Jersey’s Newark Liberty, both of New York’s airports (LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy) as well as Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson.
Monday’s forecast also looks tough for travelers with 90 million people under threat of severe storms. A Level 3 out of 5 “enhanced risk” is highlighted for the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, where multiple rounds of thunderstorms are possible later in the day. Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, DC, and Raleigh, North Carolina, are included in the enhanced risk area.
