By evening, flight-tracking service FlightAware.com reported that more than 1,700 flights within the U.S. had been scrapped, with the largest numbers at Fort Lauderdale and Miami. American Airlines, which has a major hub in Miami, was the hardest-hit carrier, followed by JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines.
There were also more than 4,600 delays on Thursday throughout the U.S. And more than 1,500 cancellations were expected on Friday, according to Flight Aware.
Linda Hughes, air service coordinator for Dayton International Airport, said five airlines fly out of the area — Allegiant Air, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Airlines and American Airlines.
Hughes said it is hard to measure direct impact from a storm because of connecting flights and final destinations, but Dayton has seen slim effects thus far.
According to American Airlines, the company has canceled flights to nine airports due to the storm, but they do not serve any airports form Dayton in the impacted areas, according to a spokesman.
On Wednesday, no delays or cancellations were reported out of Dayton airport due to Matthew. But local passengers are starting to feel slight impacts now, mostly in southeast Florida.
Allegiant has canceled a flight on Friday from Dayton to Orlando. Southwest canceled five flights on Thursday and Friday with a final destination of Orlando, and United Airlines and Delta have also canceled flights to the city as well.
At Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG), a spokeswoman said not many flights have been impacted so far. According to the CVG website, a Delta flight was canceled to Orlando Friday evening, and two flights arriving from Orlando to Cincinnati have been canceled. One flight from Cincinnati to Miami International Airport was canceled for Friday, and one coming from Miami to Cincinnati was also scrapped.
Local flight delays and cancellations all depend on how the storm forecast changes, according to CVG.
Many airlines were letting passengers alter their plans and delay travel for a few days without incurring the usual fee for changing a ticket, which can be $200 for domestic flights. Some, including United Airlines, JetBlue and Spirit Airlines, also said they would waive the fare difference for the new ticket.
Airlines often cancel flights before storms hit to prevent passengers from being stranded at airports and to keep their planes in position to recover after the bad weather passes.
Several airlines have issued travel waivers for airports impacted by the storm.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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