American Airlines cancels more than 740 flights Sunday

FORT WORTH, Texas — American Airlines canceled more than 740 flights Sunday, which represented over 14% of its total trips for the day.

It’s been a tumultuous Halloween weekend for the airline, with the company canceling more than 1,600 flights of its 16,073 total trips since Friday.

In a statement, the airline cited weather as the reason for the cancelations. Specifically, a spokesperson said high winds have been a problem in Texas, where the company is headquartered.

“This week saw two days of severe winds in DFW, with gusts of up to 50 mph on Thursday, creating crosswind limitations that sharply reduced arrival capacity by more than half,” wrote the company. “This weather drove a large number of cancellations at DFW, as we could only use two runways instead of the usual five that handle our operation.”

The airline says the weather issues have impacted its staffing, which has already been limited as it recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“With additional weather throughout the system, our staffing begins to run tight as crew members end up out of their regular flight sequences,” said the company. “To make sure we are taking care of our customers and providing scheduling certainty for our crews, we have adjusted our operation for the last few days this month by proactively canceling some flights.”

The company says it’s taking these measures to minimize inconveniences.

“Most of the customers impacted by these changes are being rebooked the same day, and we apologize for having to make these changes,” the company wrote.

Along with the cancelations, more than 160 American Airlines flights had been delayed by about 12 p.m. ET Sunday, and 437 were delayed on Saturday, according to the website flightaware.com.