Airlines Cancel More Than 1,300 Flights As Winter Storm Gerri Barrels Down On Midwest

Winter Storm Gerri has brought blinding snow and freezing winds across much of the Midwest, forcing airlines to cancel 1,369 flights across the U.S. on Saturday.

Additionally, nearly 7,200 domestic and international flights entering U.S. airspace were delayed, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. That comes after more than 2,280 flights were canceled and nearly 8,630 were delayed on Friday, largely due to the weather.

United Airlines led the list of cancelations Saturday with 255 flights — and 725 delays — as of early Saturday. Southwest Airlines had 162 cancellations and 1,181 delays. Alaska Airlines, which halted 124 flights and delayed a further 205.

However, many of Alaska's cancellations may be due to an ongoing investigation into the operator's Boeing 737-9 Max fleet. The airline is expected to cancel between 110 and 150 flights daily until the situation is resolved.

Chicago's O'Hare International Airport was the hardest hit in the country as the "Windy City" grapples with gusts that are expected to reach 50 miles per hour and wind chills that can cause frostbite to exposed skin in just 15 minutes, according to the National Weather Service. Some 225 flights were canceled — and 865 delayed — at O'Hare International, adding to the more than 820 canceled on Friday.

Local officials have asked residents to consider staying at home during the storm, as conditions make travel "very difficult to impossible," according to NBC News Chicago. At least one of the city's residents has died of exposure to the cold, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Michigan's Detroit Metro Airport and Denver International Airport have also been slammed by the bomb cyclone, as the bitter cold and whipping winds hit those regions.

“This has been a terrible trip,” Sam Fuirwara, whose Southwest flight to Denver had been canceled on Friday, told The Chicago Tribune. “I knew the storm was coming, so this is where I’m at now.”