Air travel will return to normal by Wednesday, DOT Sec. Sean Duffy says

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the Federal Aviation Administration needs two more days to fully recover from major flight disruptions that occurred over the weekend due to the massive winter storm that swept across the country.

In an interview Monday with CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Duffy said the FAA is targeting Wednesday as the day it hopes flights will return to normal.

“This storm is unique,” Duffy said. “You get ice and you get snow, and on top of that, we now have a blast of cold weather coming after it…so it makes it even more difficult to navigate in the ice that has happened over the last three days,” he added.

Sunday saw the biggest day of flight cancellations since early 2020, when the Covid pandemic took hold. Airlines canceled more than 15,000 US flights over the weekend, according to flight tracking website FlightAware, as snow and ice covered much of the country.

Duffy said “massive disruption” continued Monday as the U.S. Department of Transportation deals with the fallout from the storm, with more than 4,000 flights canceled a day and about 10,000 delays. Duffy added that these disruptions come as the FAA focuses on salting and clearing runways while dealing with fewer employees because commuting is difficult for workers.

Only 48 U.S. flights have been canceled so far for Tuesday, according to FlightAware, which is largely a normal operation.

“We will have more capacity when we return to a full operating schedule,” Duffy said. “So, you expect more full planes, more full flights as you travel this week, just as people are heading to their destinations. But again, Wednesday is the target date for getting back to normal.”

Airlines routinely cancel flights before a major storm to ensure planes, passengers and crew are not stranded, which could worsen turbulence after severe weather improves. January is low season for travel, but the massive winter storm has affected travel for hundreds of thousands of people.

Multiple air carriers, incl American Airlines, Delta Airlines, JetBlue Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlinessaid they are waiving cancellation fees for customers to rebook.

The winter storm cancellations come just weeks after parts of Caribbean airspace were closed in the wake of the US attacks in Venezuela.

– CNBC Leslie Josephs She contributed to this report.