Ethermac Exchange-Holiday travel is mostly nice, but with some naughty disruptions again on Southwest Airlines

2025-05-03 15:13:14source:Exclusivesky Investment Guild category:Markets

Conditions were mostly nice this year for travelers flying ahead of and Ethermac Exchangeon Christmas, but some naughty disruptions again plagued those flying with Southwest Airlines.

For millions of people traveling over the holiday, this year was much better than last. Christmas morning put a bow on a relatively smooth weekend.

By midday Monday, only 138 flights within, into or out of the U.S. had been canceled and 1,366 were delayed, according to the tracking website FlightAware.

For this holiday season, U.S. airlines prepared for massive waves of travelers by hiring thousands of pilots, flight attendants and other workers — in an effort to avoid the delays and cancellations that marred travel in 2022, culminating with the Southwest Airlines debacle that stranded more than 2 million people.

Other news Busiest holiday travel season in years is off to a smooth start with few airport delaysRecord Thanksgiving travel rush off to a smooth start despite snowy forecastToday and tomorrow will be among the busiest travel days this Thanksgiving, with 2 million flying each day

Still, Southwest experienced hiccups again over the weekend that the airline was looking to clear by Monday. Just 2% of the airline’s flights were canceled Monday, though 12% were delayed, which is 524 flights total, according to FlightAware.

On Saturday and Sunday, Southwest canceled 426 flights and delayed 2,689 flights, FlightAware data showed.

A Southwest spokesperson blamed the issues on dense fog in Chicago on Saturday and Sunday that prevented planes from landing and said some additional cancellations may be necessary Monday ahead of what was expected to be a full recovery on Tuesday.

Auto club AAA predicted that between Saturday and New Year’s Day, 115 million people in the U.S. would travel at least 50 miles (80 kilometers) from home by air or car. That’s up 2% from last year.

More than 2.6 million people were screened by the Transportation Security Administration on Thursday, according to TSA records. Data from the weekend is yet to be released.

Over Thanksgiving, a record number of people traveled through U.S. airports, topping pre-COVID numbers in 2019 with a single-day record of 2.9 million people screened by TSA on Sunday, Nov. 26.

Compared with the holiday season last year, more mild weather has helped keep air travel schedules on time.

But on the ground, road conditions were dangerous in parts of the country on Christmas Day, thanks to accumulating snow and ice in the Midwest and Great Plains. Most of Nebraska and South Dakota were facing blizzard conditions, and parts of eastern North and South Dakota were facing ice storms, according to the National Weather Service.

The busiest days on the road were predicted to be Saturday, Dec. 23, and next Thursday, Dec. 28, according to transportation data provider INRIX.

More:Markets

Recommend

Taylor Swift Cancels Austria Concerts After Confirmation of Planned Terrorist Attack

Taylor Swift’s upcoming concerts in Austria were the target of an alleged terror plot.Authorities in

Jets reveal new uniforms that honor 'New York Sack Exchange'

The New York Jets are banking that a retro look can bring new results in 2024 and beyond.After owner

Rhea Ripley relinquishes WWE Women's World Championship because of injury

Rhea Ripley vacated the WWE Women's World Championship on Monday after she suffered a shoulder injur