This Winter’s Storms Have Led To Highest Number Of Flights Canceled In 25 Years

It’s not just your bad luck — this winter has been a you-know-what-show for flights every time yet another storm hits. According to a new report, this season’s batch of snow storms has led to the highest number of flight cancellations in more than 25 years. Not all records are fun to achieve, eh?

According to an analysis by the Associated Press, U.S. airlines have canceled more than 75,000 domestic flights since Dec. 1. We can thank this week’s fresh dumping of snow and slush for 14,000 of those.

That’s a big chunk out of the 1.35 million flights — 5.5% of all those scheduled during that period. The AP calculated that number based on info from flight tracking site FlightAware.

The last time we had this many total flights canceled and had such a high percentage of cancellations was at least the winter of 1987-1988, which is when the Department of Transportation first started collecting cancellation data.

While stormy weather has had a heck of a lot to do with this frustrating season spent glowering at airport terminal boards, the numbers can also be partly  blamed on cost-cutting measures and new government regulations that have made airlines’ trigger fingers twitchy when it comes to canceling flights.

“This year is off to a brutal start for airlines and travelers,” FlightAware CEO Daniel Baker tells the AP. “Not only is each storm causing tens of thousands of cancellations, but there’s been a lot of them.”

And if you haven’t noticed, we’re only halfway through February. Sigh.

You can follow MBQ on Twitter if you don’t mind her bitter grumblings about Valentine’s Day: @marybethquirk

Canceled! Airlines Scrap Record Number Of Flights [Associated Press]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.