Delta's woes persist through weekend, with more flights canceled

Delta Air Lines, still working to get back to normal days after thunderstorms blew through the eastern US on Wednesday, had to scrub about 275 more flights on Saturday.

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The No. 2 US airline, which already canceled around 3,000 flights in the wake of the powerful mid-week storms, said in a statement on Saturday that it's possible even more flights will be called off, stranding and frustrating passengers during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.

Delta Chief Operating Officer Gil West called the storms that pounded Atlanta "unprecedented" and acknowledged the recovery effort could have been better.

"The specific track and intensity of weather like this is often difficult to forecast," West said in remarks on Thursday. "We are grateful for your patience and want you to know that we, as always, learn from these experiences. While we can't control the weather, we understand the resulting recovery has not been ideal and we apologize for that."

The severe weather battered the mid-Atlantic region, the Northeast and Georgia, causing tornadic conditions in the area of Delta's biggest hub airport at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, through which 60% of its 1,250-aircraft fleet visits each day.

Delta has one of the most enviable track records in the airline business. The carrier had 161 days in 2016 without a cancellation on its mainline operations. That included both cancellations related to factors it could control, like maintenance, and those it couldn't, like weather.

The airline has faced high-profile disruptions recently. The airline suffered roughly the same number of cancellations as this week's issues when an IT outage in August forced a halt to its operations, leaving the airline catching up for days.

"Customers should check Delta.com and the Fly Delta Mobile App for updates on flight status. A travel waiver has been extended through the weekend to help customers rebook without change fees if travel plans are flexible," Delta said in its Saturday statement.