Charlotte airport delays mount for holiday travelers Sunday as storms rip through region
Severe weather across the Charlotte area has left holiday travelers waiting or stranded during one of the busiest times of the year for one of the world’s busiest airports.
As forecasters warned of tornadoes and hail Sunday morning, 689 flights out of Charlotte Douglas International Airport were delayed and 34 were canceled, according to FlightAware as of 2 p.m.
By 11:30 a.m., the line of strong storms that had fallen over Charlotte had pushed east of the area, the National Weather Service reported.
FlightAware still reported 676 flights delayed as of 2 p.m.
Departures were at one point delayed an average of 71 minutes and arrivals were delayed 44 minutes, according to FlightAware. By 2 p.m., departures were delayed an average of 43 minutes and arrivals were delayed 53 minutes, with both continuing to decrease.
Christmas Eve delays at CLT airport
On the morning of Tuesday — on Christmas Eve — American Airlines said it had a “vendor technical issue” that caused the FAA to order a one-hour ground stop of all American Airlines flights nationwide. The airline accounts for nearly 90% of flights out of Charlotte Douglas
American had apologized to customers for the Tuesday delays..
The Airport Council International in 2022 ranked CLT the seventh-busiest worldwide for arrivals and departures.
Officials at Charlotte Douglas had said they were expecting close to 3 million passengers for the 17-day winter holiday period from Dec. 20 through Jan. 5 — a 6% increase over this time last year.
The Charlotte airport also was expecting to handle 25,000 flights, an 8% increase from this time last year.
This story was originally published December 29, 2024 at 11:55 AM.
