Flight disruptions in Atlanta continue into Monday from huge winter storm
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport will continue to see some flight disruptions Monday as the typically busy start of the travel week gets underway.
More than 260 flights into and out of Atlanta have been canceled for Monday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.com.
This weekend’s winter storm upended operations at Hartsfield-Jackson and airports across the East Coast on Sunday.
Monday will still be a difficult flying day nationally, particularly for travelers coming from or heading to airports in the Northeast.
Some of the biggest challenges for people departing Atlanta could be getting to the airport on Monday. A hard freeze in the overnight hours Sunday into Monday could make surface travel tricky Monday morning. High temperatures Monday are only expected to climb into the mid-30s in the city of Atlanta.
Georgia snow storm
Parts of metro Atlanta and all of northeast Georgia are under a winter storm watch Friday evening through Sunday morning. The system could bring heavy snow to the region. Here’s the latest forecast.
Black ice: What Georgia drivers need to know to stay safe
Protect your home: How to prevent your pipes from freezing
Your pets: 7 tips to keep your pets safe during cold weather
Power outage: How to prevent food from spoiling
Falling trees: If your neighbor’s tree falls in your yard, who pays?
The roads: ‘Brine boss’ helps GDOT prepare for approaching ice storm
Stay safe: What to have in your survival kit
The Atlanta airport on X, formerly Twitter, urged passengers to stay in close contact with their airlines, including their social media apps, for the latest travel information. Hartsfield-Jackson also urged passengers to arrive at the airport two-and-a-half hours ahead of their scheduled departure unless otherwise told by their carriers. Airport workers are continuing to treat runways, taxiways and roads, officials said.
More than 1,190 flights into and out of Atlanta were canceled for Sunday.
The cancellations Sunday were about half Delta’s schedule for the day. Its regional Delta Connection partners were also heavily affected, according to Flightaware.
By comparison, Delta had canceled about 13% of its flights across its network for Monday by the early morning hours. Endeavor Air, a Delta Connection carrier, had also cut about a quarter of its scheduled Monday service across its system.
Nationwide, more than 11,500 flights were canceled for Sunday, according to FlightAware.
Delta is offering free schedule changes through Tuesday, and most other major airlines are also offering passengers scheduling flexibility.
The Atlanta-based carrier said it increased reserve pilot and flight attendant ranks, relocated cold weather hub experts to help Southern airports like Atlanta with de-icing and baggage systems and placed aircraft out of frozen precipitation where possible.
American had canceled more than 950 flights for Monday as of early afternoon, about 30% of its scheduled flights. United and Southwest have also canceled flights as winter weather continues to impact service.
— Rosana Hughes, Savannah Sicurella, Alexis Stevens, Caroline Silva and Kelly Yamanouchi of the AJC contributed to this report.
The original story continues below:
Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, as well as Frontier, Southwest and American, are offering extensive travel flexibility for cities across the South and Southeast — including Atlanta — for travel this weekend ahead of the impending winter storm.
Delta, American, Frontier and Southwest are offering flexibility for travel this weekend. All of the airlines are offering changes without fees.
Delta sent out messages to all customers with travel plans involving Atlanta on Sunday to consider changing their flights because of forecast ice accumulation and expected cancellations.
The Atlanta-based airline announced Thursday it had begun preemptively canceling flights in North Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee.
As of Saturday morning, United Airlines had not included Atlanta in its list of affected locations.
An ice storm warning has been issued for northeast Georgia for the first time in over a decade as the state braces for treacherous winter weather arriving this weekend.
Georgia snow storm
Parts of metro Atlanta and all of northeast Georgia are under a winter storm watch Friday evening through Sunday morning. The system could bring heavy snow to the region. Here’s the latest forecast.
Black ice: What Georgia drivers need to know to stay safe
Protect your home: How to prevent your pipes from freezing
Your pets: 7 tips to keep your pets safe during cold weather
Power outage: How to prevent food from spoiling
Falling trees: If your neighbor’s tree falls in your yard, who pays?
The roads: ‘Brine boss’ helps GDOT prepare for approaching ice storm
Stay safe: What to have in your survival kit
Forecasts predict “impactful winter weather including freezing rain, sleet and ice accumulation across Texas, the Southeast, including Delta’s Atlanta hub, and into the Northeast over the next several days,” Delta said in a statement earlier this week.
Delta has more than two dozen staff meteorologists supporting its Atlanta Operations and Customer Center around the clock.
About the Authors
As a business reporter, Emma Hurt leads coverage of the Atlanta airport, Delta Air Lines, UPS, Norfolk Southern and other travel and logistics companies. Prior to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution she worked as an editor and Atlanta reporter for Axios, a politics reporter for WABE News and a business reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
J. Scott Trubey is the senior editor over business, climate and environment coverage at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He previously served as a business reporter for the AJC covering banking, real estate and economic development. He joined the AJC in 2010.
