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FedEx and United Parcel Service warned that packages could arrive late this week as a massive winter storm brought high winds, bitter cold and snow to large swaths of the United States ahead of Christmas weekend.
Severe weather was already snarling air travel during what is expected to be one of the busiest travel periods since before the pandemic.
“FedEx Express experienced substantial disruptions at our Memphis and Indianapolis hubs last night due to severe winter weather that has been moving across the United States,” FedEx said Friday. It said packages set for delivery on Friday and Saturday, which is Christmas Eve, could be delayed across the country.
UPS said severe weather “across several regions of the U.S. are impacting the UPS Air and Ground network, including UPS hubs in Louisville, Kentucky and Rockford, Illinois. As a result, some delivery and pickup services in these areas will be affected.”
The warnings come during one of the busiest times for package delivery, ahead of Christmas Day on Sunday.
The massive winter storm made getting home for the holidays a challenge for thousands of travelers. Airlines cancelled more than 6,000 flights and delayed more than 20,000 from Wednesday through Friday, according to flight-tracker FlightAware. The period includes some of what airlines expect to be the busiest days of the holiday period. Snow and sleet in the Pacific Northwest also disrupted flights.
Federal forecasters warned about treacherous road conditions, dangerously low temperatures and high winds in cities from Chicago to Boston. The National Weather Service had parts of Florida, including Tampa and Orlando, under a freeze warning Saturday morning.
On Thursday alone, 10% of U.S. airlines’ scheduled flights were cancelled while almost half were delayed, arriving late by an average of around 70 minutes, FlightAware data showed.
Close to 4,000 U.S. flights were cancelled on Friday.
Airlines aim to cancel flights as far ahead of time as possible so travelers, crews and planes aren’t stranded at the airport during bad weather.
American, Delta, United, Southwest, JetBlue, Alaska, Spirit and other carriers waived change fees and fare differences for more than 50 airports if travelers can fly later.