Airlines cancel 2,000 U.S. flights on Saturday over winter storm

Airlines canceled nearly 2,000 U.S. flights as of Saturday
morning following a massive winter storm that snarled airport
operations around the United States and frustrated thousands of
holiday travelers.
Total flight delays within, into or out of the United States
amounted to about 4,000 as of Saturday morning, according to
flight tracking website FlightAware, which showed that total
U.S. flight cancellations stood at around 2,000. The flight
cancellations on Saturday morning included over 450 from
Southwest Airlines and nearly 400 from Delta Air Lines
Inc.
The flight disruptions came as an arctic blast gripped much
of the United States on Saturday, causing power outages and car
wrecks. Plummeting temperatures were predicted to bring the
coldest Christmas Eve on record to several cities from
Pennsylvania to Georgia.
Temperatures are forecast to top out on Saturday at just 7
degrees Fahrenheit (minus 13 Celsius) in Pittsburgh, surpassing
its previous all-time coldest Christmas Eve high of 13 F, set in
1983, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.