Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told CNBC the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) needs two more days to fully recover from massive disruptions caused by winter storms across the country this weekend.
Duffy said the FAA is aiming for flights to return to normal by Wednesday, after what was the largest flight-cancellation day since early 2020, when the Covid pandemic hit.
According to flight tracking website FlightAware, more than 15,000 flights were cancelled over the weekend as much of the country was covered in snow and ice.
Experts from AccuWeather estimated that the storms are expected to cause preliminary damage and economic losses of between US$105 billion and $115 billion.
The flight disruptions continued on Monday as the U.S. Department of Transportation dealt with the storm's fallout, with more than 4,000 flight cancellations and nearly 10,000 delays for the day.
Roughly 250 U.S. cancellations were also made for Tuesday, marking a significant drop from the weekend.
“We’re going to have more capacity as we come back to a full running schedule,” Duffy said.
“So you’ll expect more full planes, more full flights as you fly this week, just as people are going to their destinations. But again, Wednesday is our target date to get back to normal.”
Multiple air carriers, including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines, said they are waiving cancellation fees for customers to rebook.
This also comes as parts of the Caribbean airspace were closed following the U.S. attacks on Venezuela.
