Winter weather continues in Texas, mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions—check your flight status before going to the airport
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Snowy conditions at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Saturday morning.
February 17, 2021
Update 9 a.m.
Winter weather continues to impact airports in Texas, the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. Conditions continue to be a challenge as ground crews work to clear snow and ice from our airplanes, though warmer weather is in the forecast. Guests should expect delays or cancellations and check the status of their flight before heading to impacted airports.
If your travel is affected, you should be notified via email or on Alaska’s mobile app if your flight(s) are canceled or delayed. We are also offering a flexible travel policy for those who would like to change their travel.
Thanks again to all of our guests who worked with us on not-so-great travel days recently.
Winter weather impacting flights in Texas, mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions—check your flight status before going to the airport
February 16, 2021
Update 2 p.m.
Winter weather continues to impact many regions in the U.S. today, including: Texas, other parts of the South, the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast regions. Alaska, Horizon and SkyWest have canceled at least 25 flights today to impacted airports. More cancellations could occur in these locations tomorrow, weather permitting.
In Texas, Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport will remain closed until at least 8 p.m. CST today. Crews are still working to clear thick patches of ice off of the airfield. Passengers are asked to refrain from coming to the airport. The heavy snow and ice throughout the state overnight has also resulted in cancellations to and from airports in Austin, Dallas and San Antonio with the exception of El Paso.
We are almost there. Crews are still working to clear thick patches of ice off of the airfield. The airfield will open shortly after 8 pm. Thank you to our airport crews for your hard work❄️ pic.twitter.com/r3uw2htVeH
— Houston Bush Airport (@iah) February 16, 2021
Our guests are being notified if their flights are canceled or delayed. We’re also offering a flexible travel policy for those who would like to change their travel. We encourage guests to check their flight status before heading to the airport in impacted locations.
We appreciate the cooperation and understanding of our guests as we navigate through the wintery weather and will continue to closely monitor the forecasts and update you as more information becomes available.
Update 9 a.m.
Severe, record-breaking winter weather continues to impact a large swath of the nation today: across Texas, other parts of the South, the mid-Atlantic region and the Northeast. Alaska, Horizon and SkyWest have canceled at least 25 flights today to impacted airports.
In Texas, Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport will remain closed until at least 4 p.m. CST today. Ground crews are working tirelessly to have the airfield back in service. Passengers are asked to refrain from coming to the airport.The heavy snow and ice throughout the state overnight has also resulted in cancellations to and from airports in Austin, Dallas and San Antonio.
Winter weather affecting airports in Texas and Oregon—check your flight status before going to the airport
February 15, 2021
Update 2 p.m.
George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, TX will remain closed until at least 1 p.m. Tuesday Feb 16. Passengers are asked to refrain from coming to the airport. The unexpected accumulation of snow and ice throughout the state overnight has also resulted in cancellations to and from airports in Austin, Dallas and San Antonio.
In Portland, conditions continue to be a challenge as ground crews work to clear snow and ice from our airplanes, though warmer weather is in the forecast.
Updated 11 a.m.
Winter storm triggers shutdown in Houston, cancellations in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio
Winter weather continues its wrath on the nation Monday, this time, dropping heavy snow and ice across Texas. Several cities in the Lone Star are experiencing record breaking snowfalls and fierce temperature lows. The unexpected accumulation of snow and ice throughout the state overnight has shut down Houston Airport and resulted in cancellations to and from airports in Austin, Dallas and San Antonio.
Snow and ice of this magnitude is extremely rare for Texas and the airports just don’t have the infrastructure to handle extreme weather like this,” said Todd Sproul, vice president of system operations at Alaska Airlines. “Coming off of a tumultuous weekend in the Pacific Northwest due to snow and ice, we recognize the obstacles our travelers are facing right now. Safety remains our top priority and we are doing everything possible to get travelers on their way.”
In Portland, guests should expect some flight delays and cancelations in and out of PDX until this afternoon, as ground crews work to clear snow and ice from our airplanes.
What to do if you’re traveling to/from Texas or Oregon:
- Guests will be notified of any cancellations and their travel rescheduled via email or the Alaska Airlines app.
- Travelers flying to or from these destinations should check the status of their flights before heading to the airport.
- Impacted guests may change their travel plans, without incurring a change fee.
February 14, 2021
Update 5 p.m.
We’re starting to see improvements in Seattle as snowfall has turned into a rain/snow mix, which we can expect until early tomorrow morning. In Portland, we still have a significantly reduced number of departures in and out of PDX due to the freezing rain in the forecast for the rest of the evening. This is to help us ease congestion and with deicing efficiency.
Currently, our contact centers are experiencing longer than normal call wait times—thank you for your patience. To save some time, we encourage you to take advantage of our online change/cancellation options. While the weather seems to be improving, if you are traveling tomorrow, we recommend checking your flight status online before heading to the airport just to be on the safe side!
Update 2 p.m.
Alaska Airlines continues to respond to inclement weather in the Pacific Northwest. Conditions in both Seattle and Portland continue to be a challenge though warmer weather is in the forecast.
What to do if you’re traveling to/from Sea-Tac or Portland:
- Check your flight status online to see if your flight is impacted, before heading to the airport. 270 Alaska and Horizon flights have been cancelled today to help ease congestion and with deicing efficiency.
- If your flight has been Impacted you should be notified via email or on our mobile app of any cancellations and travel rescheduled.
- If you don’t have to travel today, consider changing your ticket on alaskaair.com. We’re waiving change fees and offering full refunds.
- Be safe. If your flight hasn’t been canceled, leave extra time to drive to the airport.
Operation summary:
- In Portland, we’ve significantly reduced the number of departures in and out of PDX due to the freezing rain in the forecast for the rest of the day.
- In Seattle, departures were reduced until noon Pacific time. We are running a relatively normal schedule for the day due to those proactive changes but guests should expect delays.
Update 10 a.m.
Alaska Airlines continues to respond to ongoing snowfall at its largest hubs. Due to overnight snow and freezing rain, we’ve canceled more than 250 Alaska and Horizon flights to help ease congestion and allow deicing operations to run more efficiently. In anticipation of additional cancellations this afternoon, guests can change or cancel flights at no additional cost with our flexible travel policy. We appreciate the patience of our guests during this difficult travel day and are everything we can to get all of our customers to their destinations while operating safely.
Operation update:
- In Portland, we’ve significantly reduced the number of departures we’re allowing per hour in and out of PDX. We’re only allowing a limited number of flights to depart per hour, until at least noon, Pacific time.
- In Seattle, departures have been reduced until at least noon Pacific time. We’re continuing to monitor flights this morning in and out of SEA.
We are closely monitoring the expected forecast, evaluating the flight schedule, and factoring in how much air traffic SEA and PDX can handle with limited visibility and deicing requirements to operate safely. We will continue to evaluate the schedule and evolving weather conditions. Impacted guests will be notified of any cancellations and their travel rescheduled.
Major snowstorms impacting Seattle and Portland—check your flight status before going to the airport
February 13, 2021
Update 3:30 p.m. — An update was made at 5:30 p.m. about Portland operation, see bullet.
To help our guests impacted by winter weather in Seattle and Portland, Alaska is making it easier to change your trip with our peace of mind waiver that waives fare differences on top of zero change/cancel fees.
Please know our contact centers are experiencing hold times of more than four hours. We appreciate the patience of our guests during this difficult travel day and are everything we can to get all of our customers to their destinations while operating safely.
Heading into Sunday, another round of snow and winter weather is expected. We will be keeping a close eye on the weather system and will cancel flights as needed as safety is our number one priority. Impacted guests will be notified and their travel rescheduled. Guests should check the status of their flight prior to heading to the airport as many flights have been delayed or canceled.
Here’s what you can expect this evening:
- In Portland, we are running a limited operation this afternoon. We will pause all operations again this evening around 6 p.m. Pacific time due to freezing rain in the forecast.
- Inbound and outbound operations in Seattle have been reduced to a limited operation.
Update 12:50 p.m.
As of 12:15 p.m. Pacific time, we’ve canceled around 400 flights due to winter weather in the Pacific Northwest. Our call centers are experiencing hold times of more than five hours. We appreciate the patience of our guests during this difficult travel day and are everything we can to get all of our customers to their destinations while operating safely.
Here’s what we know this afternoon:
- In Portland, we hope to begin running a limited operation this afternoon. It’s likely we will pause all operations again this evening due to more winter weather in the forecast.
- Inbound operations in Seattle are still being paused due to inclement weather and outbound operations out of Seattle have been reduced to a limited operation.
- In both locations, our teams are working safely and efficiently to clear snow and deice aircraft.
- Guests are being notified if their flight is canceled. We’re also offering a flexible travel policy for those who would like to change their flights.
- Guests should check the status of their flight prior to heading to the airport as many flights have been delayed or canceled. Flights throughout the system, including those outside of Portland and Seattle, are being impacted.
Update 10 a.m.
Heavy winter storms hit the Pacific Northwest overnight. Roughly 6 to 10 inches of snow fell Friday evening and the wintery weather continues in the Seattle and Portland metro areas, reports the National Weather Service.
As of 10 a.m. Pacific time, more than 200 Alaska Airlines flights into and out of Seattle and Portland have been canceled. More snow is expected in both locations throughout the day. In Seattle, a temporary pause of the operation is in effect until 11 a.m. Pacific time. Our operations in Portland remain limited until further notice due to unsafe conditions at the airport, such as freezing rain.
Our guests are being notified if their flight is canceled. We’re also offering a flexible travel policy for those who would like to change their flights. We encourage guests to monitor their flight status before heading to the airport on alaskaair.com or our mobile app.
