Charlotte airport misery: Flight disruptions from winter storm now top 3,700
From the first flakes of Winter Storm Fern through late afternoon Tuesday, passengers at Charlotte’s airport faced more than 3,700 flight disruptions.
The weekend storm brought a treacherous mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain to the region. According to the tracking site FlightAware, Charlotte Douglas International Airport experienced 1,625 cancellations and 294 delays on Saturday and Sunday.
Although weather conditions in Charlotte improved Monday, the aftermath of the storm continued to hamper travel plans, resulting in an additional 700 cancellations and 465 delays. In total, that’s a total of 3,081 disruptions from Saturday through Monday at the airport where American Airlines accounts for 90% of flights.
If you add in another 300 cancellations and 339 delays around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, that brings the totals since Saturday to 3,720.
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American Airlines bears brunt of winter storm mess at CLT
The storm’s impact extended far beyond North Carolina.
During a Tuesday earnings report, American Airlines revealed that Winter Storm Fern forced more than 9,000 cancellations across its system, leading to an estimated revenue loss of between $150 million to $250 million.
Those cancellations also represented the largest weather-related operations disruption in the airline’s 100-year history
To prepare for Fern, American waived change fees for travelers scheduled to fly to, from, or through Charlotte over the weekend. The carrier also increased capacity by adding 6,200 extra seats across its major hubs, including 3,000 additional seats on routes between Charlotte and Chicago on Saturday.
These steps were meant to help stranded passengers find more ways to reach their destinations, even with the bad weather.
Customers can visit aa.com or contact the reservations center at 800-433-7300 for further details or to adjust travel plans.
This story was originally published January 27, 2026 at 1:05 PM.
