US flight cancellations top 1,000 due to Hurricane Helene

 

Hurricane Helene is already disrupting flight operations at some major airports in the southeast, most notably Tampa International Airport.

There were roughly 1,020 cancellations across the United States as of 11 a.m. ET on Thursday — more than triple the daily average for the 2023 calendar year, and well above the 30-day high, according to FlightAware.

Sarasota-Bradenton International and Southwest Florida International are among the other airports seeing significant cancellations.

Typically, airlines hope that by canceling flights ahead of the storm, they won’t leave passengers stranded at airports and can recover their schedules more quickly. Southwest Airlines appears to be taking the biggest blow of any major airline so far.