SkyWest cancels and delays thousands of flights

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN Business

SkyWest, a regional airline that operates flights for several major US carriers, has canceled and delayed thousands of flights over the past two days.

The airline explained that it experienced an “operational disruption” on Thursday, and that the cancellations and delays cascaded into Friday because it had to get “crew and aircraft into position.”

According to aviation tracking site FlightAware, SkyWest canceled Thursday 26% of its schedule, or nearly 700 flights. On Friday it canceled about 20% of its schedule, which amounts to 463 flights. Additionally, about 900 flights were delayed over the two days.

“We apologize to customers for the inconvenience and remain focused on efforts to return to normal operations as quickly as possible,” SkyWest said in a statement to CNN Business.

The Utah-based carrier flies regional jets on behalf of Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. SkyWest has about 2,300 daily departures among the airlines combined serving 236 destinations across North America, according to its website.

It’s been a rough October for air passengers. Earlier this month, Southwest Airlines canceled more than 2,000 flights because of multiple issues including staffing and weather. The operational meltdown cost the airline $75 million.

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