Delta Announces Cancellation of Hundreds of Flights Across 7 States

As a winter storm prepares to strike parts of the Midwest, Delta Air Lines has made the decision to preemptively cancel hundreds of flights throughout the region, offering "flexible rebooking options" to those customers.

While more than 20 airports throughout the region, Delta's Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) hub is the one most impacted by the weather-related cancellations.

Winter Storm Hits the Midwest

The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a series of new winter storm warnings and watches, as a new round of heavy snowfall makes its way to the Midwest.

The NWS warned that Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska are all in line for this storm, with Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula bracing for the highest snow totals at 36 inches.

“Moderate to heavy snow is spreading across the Great Lakes as an intense low pressure system moves through the Upper Midwest,” the NWS warned. “Snowfall totals of 6 to 12+ inches along with the strong and very gusty winds may lead to poor visibility and blowing snow at times.”

Delta Announces Flight Cancellations

On Friday evening, Delta issued a statement announcing that it was preemptively canceling flights in the area as a result of the storm.

"Due to significant forecasted snow and winds in the Midwest, Delta has implemented cancellations for airports in the Midwest, including Delta’s Minneapolis-St. Paul hub, for Saturday through Sunday," Delta announced on Friday night. "Customers whose travel takes them to, from, or through affected airports are encouraged to proactively adjust their plans outside the anticipated weather window using the flexible rebooking options available to them."

While Delta said that it automatically rebooks customers with the next best options, customers can also make changes to their itinerary on the Delta app and delta.com. Delta urged passengers to take advantage of these options as they are the same flight options that their reservation specialists have access to.

"The safety of Delta customers and our people remains first and foremost as we closely monitor forecasts to determine necessary adjustments to flight schedules," Delta added.

Hundreds of Flights Canceled

While Delta did not initially specify just how many flights would be canceled, Simple Flying reports that hundreds of flights have been canceled by the airline.

"Data from FlightAware shows that Delta has canceled over 80 departures on Saturday, rising to over 220 flights on Sunday. The majority of impacted flights are at MSP, where 200 departures have been scrapped on Sunday, along with a similar number of arrivals. Delta Connection partner SkyWest Airlines has also canceled many flights, with over 120 services canceled on Sunday," Simple Flying reported.

While the majority of these flights were to, through, or out of MSP, other airports have been affected, too.

On its website, Delta lists a total of 26 airports across seven states, including nine airports in Michigan, six in Wisconsin, and four in Minnesota. Other states impacted are Iowa, Nebraska, and Illinois.

Here is the full list of airports impacted:

• Aberdeen (ABR)
• Alpena (APN)
• Appleton (ATW)
• Brainerd (BRD)
• Cedar Rapids (CID)
• Des Moines (DSM)
• Duluth (DLH)
• Escanaba (ESC)
• Green Bay (GRB)
• Marquette (MQT)
• Milwaukee (MKE)
• Minneapolis–Saint Paul (MSP)
• Moline (MLI)
• Omaha (OMA)
• Pellston (PLN)
• Rhinelander (RHI)
• Rochester, MN (RST)
• Saginaw / Bay City / Midland (MBS)
• Sault Ste. Marie (CIU)
• Sioux Falls (FSD)
• Traverse City (TVC)
• Watertown (ATY)
• Wausau (CWA)

While these preemptive cancellations are from Delta, it's worth noting that other airlines will certainly be impacted, as well. So it's important to stay updated on your flight status if you are traveling this weekend.