Posted on: April 4, 2022, 01:36h.
Last updated on: April 4, 2022, 02:21h.
UPDATE: Many Las Vegas flights continued to be either delayed or canceled today (April 4). Some 40 flights were canceled as of mid-day today, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Some 95 flights were delayed.
This comes after Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport was among the US destinations which saw numerous delayed or canceled flights over the weekend. Nationally, the impacted flights were blamed on foul weather and technology issues.
The disruptions came on what was reportedly seen as a popular weekend for spring-time travel. Many US passengers had vacation plans for Saturday or Sunday after a vacation gap caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Las Vegas alone, where travel to casinos has picked up, approximately 10% of flights either landing or taking off from Reid Airport saw delays as of mid-day Sunday. That’s according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking site.
As of 1 pm, 86 inbound flights and 89 outbound flights at Reid were delayed, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported, citing FlightAware data. Also, 40 outbound flights and 47 inbound flights at Reid were totally canceled Sunday, FlightAware added.
Globally, some 9,205 flights were delayed on Sunday. About a third of these impacted US flights. Also, 3,458 flights worldwide were canceled Sunday. Some 1,516 of them impacted US flights, FlightAware said.
Southwest Impacted
Among the hardest-hit airlines over the weekend was Southwest, USA Today reported. On Saturday, Southwest chose to “briefly” pause its flights because of inclement weather in Florida and technology glitches, the airline said in a tweet.
As of mid-day Sunday, Southwest canceled 398 US flights, FlightAware said. It delayed 827 flights.
Also, Spirit Airlines was forced to cancel 27% of its flights on Saturday, USA Today said. As of mid-day Sunday, it also canceled 27% of flights, the report adds, citing FlightAware data. JetBlue Airways and American Airlines flights were also impacted, USA Today said.
The Las Vegas airport also was impacted last Oct. 9 and 10, when more than 200 Southwest flights either in to or out of the airport were canceled, according to FlightAware. Nearly 260 flights experienced some type of delay that weekend. That was also a national issue with weather being the culprit.
Earlier, last August, Spirit Airlines canceled numerous flights heading to Las Vegas. Flights departing from Las Vegas were impacted that summertime period, too.
Las Vegas Part of Network
When asked about this past weekend’s disruptions, Joe Rajchel, a spokesman for Reid Airport, confirmed to Casino.org on Monday that there were “delays and cancellations seen nationwide.”
He explained there was “adverse weather in parts of the country, as well as some reported technology issues for certain airlines.” Such disruptions can have a “widespread impact,” because the aviation system is an “interconnected network,” Rajchel added.
He advises travelers to check the status of their flights prior to arriving at the airport.
Late last year, the Las Vegas airport officially got a new name. Effective Dec. 14, McCarran International Airport became Harry Reid International Airport.