American Airlines apologizes to passengers as winter storm strands thousands
American Airlines Chief Customer Officer has issued an apology to the thousands of passengers across the country impacted by the winter storm.
The weather conditions made a major impact on flights over the past few days. More than 4,600 U.S. American Airlines flights were canceled over Saturday, Sunday and Monday, according to FlightAware.com, as a massive storm moved across the country. Over 2,300 American Airlines flights were delayed, according to FlightAware.com.
TxDOT posted photos over the weekend of snow-covered highways north of Dallas after ice and sleet swept through the region overnight.
DFW Airport canceled most of its scheduled flights and remains packed with travelers waiting to get to their final destination.
There is a lot of frustration inside DFW Airport, where Dallas-based American Airlines, in particular, is struggling to get caught up after this weekend's winter storm.
On Monday, American Airlines Chief Customer Officer Heather Gordon said the last 48 hours have been "incredibly challenging" and issued an apology to passengers.
"On behalf of everyone at American, I want to assure you it's been all hands on deck to keep our operation moving," Gordon said in a statement. "Our largest hub at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), which touches a significant number of the flights we operate each day, was hit particularly hard with record-setting conditions."
"We are very sorry for the disruption this weather event has caused, and we thank our team members — many of whom are working overtime and are continuing to safely brave the weather — as they focus on taking care of as many customers as possible," Gordon's statement continues.
Gordon encouraged passengers to check the American Airlines app and website for the latest flight status and to take advantage of the additional flexibility the airline offered by the travel alerts issued earlier for the winter storm.