Updates: More Spirit, American Airlines flights canceled at Tampa airport

Jay Cridlin, Tampa Bay Times
·2 min read

Tuesday at Tampa International Airport saw another hefty round of Spirit Airlines cancellations as the carrier continued experiencing what it called “operational challenges.”

More than a dozen morning and afternoon departures were called off by 5 p.m., including to destinations like to Las Vegas, Houston, Baltimore, Detroit, Dallas, Chicago, Atlantic City and Cleveland.

Another 10 or so arrivals from Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, Cleveland and San Juan had also been canceled, according to Spirit and the airport’s flight tracker.

Airport spokesperson Emily Nipps said the cancellations represented more than half of Spirit’s Tampa flights for the day. The airline blamed flight disruptions from the weekend and crews being out of position to fly, Nipps said.

Nationwide, Spirit was up to 408 cancellations and 93 delays by 7 p.m. Tuesday, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware.com. Three hundred and forty-seven Spirit flights were canceled Monday, and another 227 were delayed. On Sunday, Spirit had 165 cancellations and 341 delays.

“We understand how frustrating it is for our guests when plans change unexpectedly, and we’re working to find solutions,” Spirit spokesperson Field Sutton said in an emailed statement on Moday. “We ask guests to actively monitor their emails and flight status before heading to the airport.”

Spirit wasn’t the only carrier experiencing widespread delays as Tampa was hammered by rain on Tuesday.

American Airlines has also seen hundreds of cancellations and delays over the past few days, tweeting that weather “has really put a damper on our operations.” Nipps said the cancellations were “crew-related,” according to airport staff. Multiple Tuesday flights from Tampa to Dallas and Charlotte were canceled by mid-morning.

More than 700 Southwest Airlines were delayed on Tuesday, and at least a half-dozen to and from Tampa International Airport were canceled due to weather. Those included flights to and from New York, Houston, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.