Delta cancels 400 departures from Hartsfield Friday

By Kristi E. Swartz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Delta is canceling 400 departures from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Friday to prepare for snow and ice, an airline spokesman told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The Atlanta-based airline said it will start cutting back on flights starting at 9 a.m., spokesman Anthony Black told the AJC.

AirTran is also thinning its schedule -- saying Thursday afternoon it will cut 32 of its flights on Friday because of the threat of snow. That includes flights in and out of Atlanta.

An AirTran spokesman said travelers should check the status of their flight online tomorrow before going to the airport.

Delta said it would scrub some flights at its Atlanta hub and on routes in and out of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina.

This is the second time in two months that Delta and other airlines have proactively canceled flights out of Atlanta in an attempt to minimize delays from the weather. In January, the airline cut 200 flights the day before snow and ice hit the Southeast.

Delta is encouraging people who are traveling Friday to postpone their trip or book a different route, if possible. The airline is allowing travelers to make a one-time change to their flights without fees – if the tickets are changed by Fed. 16.

Delta canceled 450 flights today as the Northeast continues to dig out of a blizzard that dumped as much as four feet of snow in some areas.

That’s about half of the flights that Atlanta-based Delta scrubbed Wednesday as heavy snow fell around the Washington, D.C., metro area.

The canceled flights are in and out of airports in Boston, Newark, New York, Philadelphia and the Washington area, Delta said.

Meanwhile, between one and two inches of snow may fall around metro Atlanta and parts of Georgia by tomorrow night. Delta is expected to issue a briefing on that later today.

AirTran canceled 52 flights today – significantly less than the 204 that were dropped on Wednesday. AirTran Airways said on its Web site that travel to Washington, New York and some other cities could be affected through Friday.

Both carriers are waiving certain fees for passengers who rescheduled flights.