Severe weather causes major flight cancellations at Charlotte Douglas International Airport

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Severe weather causes major flight cancellations at Charlotte Douglas International Airport

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Charlotte Douglas International Airport | Facebook

By Sky Industry News

Mar 12, 2025

On March 5, 2025, severe weather affected Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) and other airports, leading to significant flight disruptions. The North Carolina airport experienced approximately 179 cancellations, the highest number among U.S. airports that day.

The Charlotte area faced thunderstorms and strong winds on Wednesday, impacting various activities including flights. According to FlightAware, a total of 179 flights within, into, or out of the U.S. at Charlotte Douglas were canceled, with an additional 351 delayed.

Approximately 85 (10%) outbound flights from Charlotte were canceled while 196 (24%) were delayed. Inbound flights saw 94 (11%) cancellations and155 (19%) delays. American Airlines subsidiary PSA Airlines was notably impacted with130 (39%) cancellations and71 (21%) delays.

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Charlotte Airport had previously warned via its X page that bad weather could lead to flight delays, disruptions, and diversions on March5. Flightradr24data indicated that American Airlines began canceling several flights earlyWednesdaymorning,someofwhichweredivertedtoRaleigh-Durham,Fayetteville,Wilmington,andAtlanta.ThetopfiveairlinesaffectedbycancelationsanddelaysincludedPSAAirlinewith130(39%)cancelledand72(22%)delayedflights;AmericanAirlineswith28(3%)cancelledand177(24%)delayedflights;Piedmontwith16(8%)cancelledand56(29%)delayedflights;EndeavorAirwith5(27%))cancelledand5(27%))delayedflights;DeltawithnoCancelledbut11DelayedFlights(31%).

Flights around9amweremostimpactedduetohighwindsandheavyrain.By11am,the storms began moving out of the Charlotte metro area allowing operations torecover.At timeofpublishingonMarch6aboutfiveinboundflightshadbeencanceledwhile19weredelayed.Outboundflightssaw16delaysbutnocancellations.

FlightAwareshowed935cancellationsand6345delayswithinintooroutoftheUSonMarch5.CharlotteDouglasrecordedthemostcancellationsfollowedbyReaganNationalAirport(DCA)whichhad139cancellations.GlobaldatarevealedBrisbaneexperiencedover200cancellationsduetoTropicalCycloneAlfredapproaching.AllpassengerflightsatBrisbaneAirporthavebeensuspendeduntilfurthersnoticewithoperationsresumingonlywhensafe.MultiplenewschannelsreportthecycloneexpectedtomakelandfallnearBrisbaneasaCategory2stormonFridayorSaturday.

"However,"saidreports"onMarch5PSAAirlinesremainedthemostaffectedairlinegloballywith248canceledflights"ItwasfollowedbyAmericanAirlinesandRepubliceachhaving111VirginAustralia93AirChina92Qantas85Jetstar79Today'smostaffectedairportsincludeBrisbaneSydneyMelbournewhilemostaffectedairlinesareVirginAustraliaQantasJetstarAcrosstheUS1354delays95cancellationsarereported

"OperationsatCharlotteDouglas"remainbusyIn2024588milliontravelerspassedthroughmarkinga10increasefrompreviousrecord534millionset2023Thenumberinternationalpassengersgrewfrom21million202324million2024TheairportseesrecordsingledayMay1645304passengerspassingthroughCLT

"Photo:"CharlotteDouglasInternationalAirportexpectsprogress2025ongoingexpansionDestinationCLTterminalprojectsExpansionterminallobbybegan2019expectedfinishyearadding175000squarefeetlobbyrenovating191000squarefeetexistingspaceAccordingdataCiriumaviationanalyticscompanyover5000weeklyflightsscheduledAsMarch2025AmericanAirlineslargestoperator2685weeklyflightsfollowedPSA1175Piedmont714TopdestinationsLaGuardiaOrlandoAtlanta