Horrible January Weather Led To Cancellation Of Nearly 50,000 US Flights

Bad weather led U.S. airlines to cancel a total of 49,000 flights and delay another 300,000 in January, affecting 30 million passengers and costing hundreds of millions of dollars.

Those numbers are provided by masFlight, a data and software company that specializes in airline operation. According to the analysis, the delays and cancellations cost airlines between $75 million and $150 million, and passengers over $2.5 billion. Regional airlines accounted for about two thirds of the cancellations.

In the space of four weeks, the U.S. was hit by a Nor'Easter, two polar vortexes, record cold temperatures, and a lot of snow.

On top of the weather, masFlight points to new pilot fatigue rules that went into effect on January 4, which make it more difficult for airlines to schedule extra flights when necessary.

February isn't off to a good start, weather-wise. Snow on the East Coast has led airlines to cancel more than 1,200 flights into, within, or out of the U.S. Another 700 have been delayed, according to FlightAware.com.