Just how much did Debby mess up CLT travel plans? It disrupted over 4,500 flights
If you’re wondering how many flights Hurricane Debby spoiled this week at Charlotte’s airport — it was quite a lot. Over 4,200 were disrupted in fact.
As Debby marched up the East Coast, it paused plans for thousands of people trying to travel into or out of Charlotte Douglas International Airport when it began barreling towards the U.S.
Since last weekend through Friday afternoon, the airport had 4,580 flights delayed or canceled, according to a Charlotte Observer review of records on Flight Aware, an online website providing real-time information.
Travel misery continued on Friday. As of 5 p.m. Friday, 314 flights were delayed at CLT so far during the day and 41 were canceled.
And an industry expert expects travel problems to continue to grow when bad weather strikes.
With airlines continuing to add more flights overall, that means when bad weather hits, there will be more flights that will be impacted at airports like CLT, according to airline industry analyst Bob Mann of R.W. Mann & Company.
Charlotte Douglas is American Airlines’ second-busiest hub and the seventh-busiest airport in the world in terms of arrivals and departures, according to the Airport Council International’s preliminary rankings for 2022.
It’s not clear if the week of weather disruptions from Debby set records for Charlotte Douglas in terms of scheduled operations. The airport refused to address that question when asked by The Charlotte Observer.
In September 2018, Hurricane Florence forced American Airlines to cancel about 100 flights for a day at the Charlotte airport, The Charlotte Observer reported at the time.
And in September 2022, Hurricane Ian grounded more than 300 flights at Charlotte Douglas as wind and rain, brought by Hurricane Ian, moved into the area for a day.
Debby’s impact around Charlotte
The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings for Mecklenburg on Thursday as Tropical Storm Debby swept into town. The airport logged 4.09 inches of rain, breaking the previous record of 1.37 inches for Aug. 8 set in 1928, according to the NWS.
More than 24,000 customers in Mecklenburg County lost power at one point on Thursday, according to Duke Energy.
Forecasters are expecting heavy rainfall and flood threats across portions of the Mid-Atlantic into upstate New York on Friday, the center reported.
Hurricane Debby came to Florida early Monday, bringing 80 mph sustained winds with it, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. It was later downgraded to a tropical storm Monday and became a post-tropical cyclone on Friday.
CLT flight upheavals annoy passengers
Debby delivered a migraine of a headache for passengers. Customers took to social media to complain about their experiences before, during and after Debby.
One user on X wrote on Friday morning: “Charlotte airport is the only airport I can expect a delay out of. Every time.”
Another X user wrote about an incident involving the Carolina Panthers. A charter flight with players and staff landed normally, but went off the taxiway early Friday , the Observer reported. “Now you know why I was so thankful to get out of Charlotte Airport when I could.”
In the meantime, customers whose travel plans are affected by Debby may rebook without change fees through Friday, according to the travel alert issued by American Airlines. They can reschedule travel at aa.com or by contacting reservations at 800-433-7300 in the U.S. or Canada.
Charlotte Douglas remained open during the storm for stranded passengers.
Last Saturday, Eddie Love waited on the tarmac with wife Neringa for over an hour after returning to Charlotte from Frankfurt, Germany, because of Hurricane Debby. They returned to Charlotte Douglas on Monday for his lost luggage at the American Airlines baggage service office.
“This is like a zombie movie,” Eddie Love said while looking at the long lines and ceiling construction. “You got wires hanging down and a bunch of people crawling over each other.”
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This story was originally published August 9, 2024 at 3:36 PM.
