developments at reagan national outside of d.c. what is the story behind these cance cancellations? reporter: it s a big operational mess for southwest airlines, erica. it s not like flipping on a switch to get it back to normal. this is more like the airline needs to unplug it and plug it back in again because it says these problems all started back on friday when there were weather and air traffic control issues. the federal aviation administration put out a statement saying there were no weather or agency issues on saturday and sunday when southwest experienced the lion s share of cancellations and delays. it canceled 800 flights on saturday, 1,100 nights on sunday, about a third of its overall schedule for the day. it s canceled about 350 flights today, about 1 in every 10 flights. there is a ripple effect southwest says it put planes and people in the wrong spots. some flight crews didn t even have hotels and that left tens of thousands of passengers in
charlotte, atlanta, philadelphia, and washington, d.c. so if you were at an airport or trying to get into an airport in the northeast, here is a snapshot of what was happening behind the scenes. mountains of thick, heavy snow was enough to completely stop air travel at some northeast airports like reagan national outside of d.c. here s my problem right now. these are my two parallel taxiways and you can see the snow. i can get you from the land but i can t get you from the runways to the gate. reporter: they ve been shut down for several hours as they try to clear the snow from the runways. they are nearly two dozen pieces of equipment like this on the runways trying to make it safe enough for planes to land. this right here is filled with cement, because that is necessary to stabilize this path as it lifts lots of heavy snow.
long distance trains and cut back on service from boston to virginia. as for airlines, as bad as cancellations were last night, they are literally twice as bad tonight. rene marsh is running the numbers. reporter: the numbers are ugly, and that s putting it mildly. nearly 6500 cancellations today, total delays, more than 3500. and the hardest hit airports, charlotte, atlanta, philadelphia, and washington, d.c. so if you were at an airport or trying to get into an airport in the northeast, here is a snapshot of what was happening behind the scenes. mountains of thick, heavy snow was enough to completely stop air travel at some northeast airports like reagan national outside of d.c. here s my problem right now. these are my two parallel
and yours. thank you. shepard: now to travel. the airport in and around washington d.c. opened today now that irene passed by, but new york s major airports are still closed and the word is they won t be back up and running until tomorrow. that s a big problem, but more than a quarter million people flying in and out of those airports every day and every minute they re closed creates more after ripple effect for travelers across the country and frankly, around the world. caroline shively with the news in d.c., not too bad there, caroline. not too bad here, shep and that s not the story across the country and in case you re sitting on the west coast, you think your flight will be just fine. lispen up. new york is the country s busiest air traffic region and something goes wrong, the rest of the nation s airport paying and analysts estimate millions of passengers will be affected before everyone is rescheduled. the lines the at reagan national outside of d.c. look reasonable and pa