The southeastern United States has been getting pounded by winter weather with airports from Dallas to Washington D.C. being hampered by snow, sleet, and ice. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is in the crosshairs of the storm with winter weather wreaking havoc on airline operations.
Delta Air Lines operates its largest hub in Atlanta, which is the busiest airport in the world, and is bearing the brunt of the disruption. According to FlightAware’s MiseryMap, Atlanta is facing the greatest disruptions of any airport in the country.
Due to the amount of connecting traffic through Atlanta, this is likely to have widespread impacts across the country as aircraft and crews will be unable to reposition where necessary.
I am already seeing reports of crew scheduling issues with airline employees unable to determine where crews are located. These issues are similar to what led to a massive, multi-day, systemwide meltdown for Delta in 2024, though the initial cause of that was an IT outage.
At the time of publication, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is currently under a ground stop until 2:00p ET.
In addition to the winter storm, a Delta Boeing 757 bound for Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) was forced to abort takeoff after an engine issue leading to an evacuation of the aircraft and the temporary closure of the runway earlier in the day.
About 200 people were evacuated from a Delta plane at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
— Atlanta News First (@ATLNewsFirst) January 10, 2025
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If you’re traveling today, especially with Delta, be sure to pack your patience as weather issues in Atlanta and beyond will have far reaching effects on the airline. Hundreds of Delta flights have already been cancelled with more likely to follow.
Summary
Winter Weather is pounding the southeastern United States and wreaking havoc on airline operations, especially at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Hundreds of flights have been cancelled and a ground stop is currently in place in Atlanta. To compound these issues, a Delta 757 was forced to abort takeoff and evacuate its passengers and crew after an engine issue in Atlanta.
Delta has not been able to be what it once was since Covid. They have been thrown off balance more than the other Big 2. It was my favorite airline from 2000 to 2020. I hate to fly them now. Just did two legs recently, DTW-AMS and AMS-DTW in Delta One. Cold bread being served. I was the first to be served on both legs as I was by the galley and no ice cream for dessert on outbound. Dedicated FA kept saying they had run out of certain drinks when I asked only for me to later get them from the Purser or a FA from the back. They need to get their act together so they can once again be what they were. Two many new FAs without proper training. Some seem grumpy like those from AA. There was a time when you would have a hard time figuring out who the Purser was bc all FAs seemed like a Purser in their demeanor, service and professionalism. I have top status with all three of the Big 3 and am rarely flying DL now. I never thought I’d be sayin this! Almost feel sorry for them but I don’t.
-Twenty Year DM and 2M Miler.