American Airlines told CNN on Thursday that it is cutting back some of its flights this fall after building toward returning to pre-pandemic levels.

According to CNN, American Airlines will cut 2% of its flights in September. Philadelphia will be a heavily impacted hub with 3% fewer American flights in September, growing to 5% in October.

The airline industry has become strained this year in returning to pre-pandemic levels. The Transportation Security Administration reports about a 10% drop in the number of passengers screened this summer compared to 2019.

Meanwhile, the federal government said it has received a number of reports from consumers about delayed or changed flights. In response, the Transportation Department is considering changes that would make it easier for consumers to be refunded for changed flights.

An American Airlines spokesperson told CNN it will "size our airline for the resources we have available and to build additional buffer into the remainder of our summer schedule."

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Winter weather brought ice to a wide swath of the United States on Tuesday, causing the cancellation of more than 1,600 flights nationwide, bringing traffic to a standstill on an interstate through Arkansas and knocking out power to thousands of Texans.

Numerous auto collisions were reported in Austin, Texas, with at least one fatality according to the Austin Fire Department. In Travis County, Texas, which includes Austin, police and sheriff’s deputies have been responding to new crashes about every three minutes since 8 a.m., according to the Austin-Travis County Traffic Report Page.

More than 700 flights to or from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and more than 250 to or from Dallas Love Field were canceled or delayed Tuesday, according to the tracking service FlightAware. At Dallas-Fort Worth, a major U.S. airport hub, more than 40% of the flights had been canceled.

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines has canceled more than 500 flights and delayed more than 250 more, FlightAware reported.

About 7,000 power outages in Texas were reported as of late Tuesday morning, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said following a briefing in Austin on the worsening conditions. He emphasized the outages were due to factors such as ice on power lines or downed trees, and not the performance of the Texas power grid that buckled for days during a deadly winter storm in 2021.

Fleets of emergency vehicles were fanned out among 1,600 roads impacted by the freeze.

One Texas state trooper was hospitalized with serious injuries after being struck by a driver who lost control of their vehicle, said Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

“The roadways are very hazardous right now. We cannot overemphasize that,” Abbott said.

In Arkansas, Interstate 40 Tuesday morning was ice-coated and “extremely hazardous” in the Forrest City area, according to the city's fire department. Pictures posted on social media showed the crumpled cab of a semi-trailer.

The department responded to two bad wrecks and about 15 other crashes Tuesday morning, Division Chief Jeremy Sharp said by telephone. In many of the crashes, the drivers pick up speed on the highway but run into trouble when they reach a bridge, he said.

“They hit the ice and they start wrecking,” he said.

“When I-40 shuts down like that, that can be hours of waiting,” said John Gadberry, who lives in Colt, Arkansas, not far from the highway. “I-40 is usually one of the first things that freezes over due to its slight elevation.”

By late Tuesday morning, I-40 was cleared and traffic had resumed, the Arkansas Department of Transportation announced. The interstate connects Little Rock, Arkansas, to Memphis, Tennessee.

The storm began Monday as part of an expected “several rounds” of wintry precipitation through Wednesday across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Marc Chenard.

“Generally light to moderate freezing rain resulting in some pretty significant ice amounts,” Chenard said.

“We're expecting ice accumulations potentially a quarter inch or higher as far south as Austin, Texas, up to Dallas over to Little Rock, Arkansas, towards Memphis, Tennessee, and even getting close to Nashville, Tennessee,” according to Chenard.

The flight disruptions follow Southwest’s meltdown in December that began with a winter storm but continued after most other airlines had recovered. Southwest canceled about 16,700 flights over the last 10 days of the year, and the U.S. Transportation Department is investigating.

The weather service has issued a winter storm warning for a large swath of Texas and parts of southeastern Oklahoma and an ice storm warning across the midsection of Arkansas into western Tennessee.

A winter weather advisory is in place in much of the remainder of Arkansas and Tennessee and into much of Kentucky, West Virginia and southern parts of Indiana and Ohio.

Schools and colleges in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas planned to close or go to virtual learning Tuesday.

Video above: Flight delays not done as holiday travelers try to make their way home

Air travelers in the U.S. hoping for clear skies on Tuesday following a disastrous week of weather-related flight cancellations and delays will have to extend their patience a few more days -- particularly if they're flying with Southwest Airlines.

More than 2,750 flights within, into or out of the U.S. have already been canceled for Tuesday as of 2:45 a.m. ET, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.

Of those canceled flights, 2,480 are operated by Southwest.

Airports most affected by the Tuesday cancellations are Denver International, followed by Chicago Midway International, Baltimore/Washington International, Nashville International, Dallas Love Field and Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas.

Tuesday's cancellations follow a full day of post-Christmas travel chaos, with 3,989 flights canceled on Monday -- 2,909 of those being Southwest flights.

Southwest warns that such cancellations and delays are expected to continue for several more days, with representatives saying the Dallas-based airline is planning to dial back its flight schedule in order to get operations on track.

Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan told the Wall Street Journal the company plans to operate just over a third of its schedule in upcoming days to give itself the ability for crews to get into the right positions.

According to WSJ.com, Jordan added that reduced schedule could be extended.

"We had a tough day today. In all likelihood we'll have another tough day tomorrow as we work our way out of this," Jordan said in an interview Monday evening with WSJ.com.

"This is the largest scale event that I've ever seen."

What can stranded passengers do?

CNN's Carlos Suarez spoke with frustrated passengers in line at the Southwest ticket counter at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday afternoon.

He reported that about 150 customers were waiting in a long line at one point to rebook, with the line snaking around the back of the ticket counter.

Calls made Monday afternoon by CNN to Southwest's customer service did not go through, so customers couldn't even get in the queue to speak to a representative. Southwest told CNN it is "fully staffed to answer calls."

The airline also says, "those whose flights have been canceled may request a full refund or receive a flight credit, which does not expire."

Video below: Some travelers keep positivity amid long lines at BWI-Marshall

If you've been left in the lurch and your efforts to reach a customer service agent are going nowhere, the founder of Scott's Cheap Flights suggests trying an international number.

"The main hotline for U.S. airlines will be clogged with other passengers getting rebooked. To get through to an agent quickly, call any one of the airline's dozens of international offices," Scott Keyes said.

"Agents can handle your reservation just like US-based ones can, but there's virtually no wait to get through."

Click here to get international numbers that Southwest has previously posted.

Southwest spokesperson: "Take care of yourself...keep your receipts"

A spokesperson for Southwest Airlines (SWA) said the recent winter storm is to blame for the cascade of thousands of flight cancellations Monday and advanced cancellations Tuesday.

"As the storm continued to sweep across the country it continued to impact many of our larger stations and so the cancellations just compiled one after another to 100 to 150 to 1,000," Jay McVay said in a press conference at Houston's William P. Hobby Airport on Monday night.

"With those cancellations and as a result, we end up with flight crews and airplanes that are out of place and not in the cities that they need to be in to continue to run our operations."

McVay said that the company's first priority right now is safety. "We want to make sure that we operate these flights safely and that we have the flight crews that have legal and sufficient time to operate these flights," he stated.

"We will do everything that we need to do to right the challenges that we've had right now," he said, including "hotels, ride assistance, vans ... rental cars to try and make sure these folks get home as quickly as possible."

He promised that all customers, even those who had already left the airport or made alternate arrangements on their own, would also be taken care of.

"If you've already left, take care of yourself, do what you need to do for your family, keep your receipts," McVay relayed. "We will make sure they are taken care of, that is not a question."

An announcement made in the terminal prior to the news conference apologized to customers and said the next available SWA seats are on Saturday, Dec. 31 and later. The agent said Southwest would be providing buses to area hotels and assured that "we will have sufficient rooms for all customers who are affected by this disruption."

Video below: Rossen Reports: Winter travel tricks as snow cancels flights

US government 'concerned' by cancellations

The United State Department of Transportation (USDOT) issued a statement on Monday's massive flight cancellations by Southwest Airlines, saying the agency is "concerned."

"USDOT is concerned by Southwest's unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays and reports of lack of prompt customer service. The Department will examine whether cancellations were controllable and if Southwest is complying with its customer service plan," the agency tweeted.

Meanwhile, in a call with CNN on Monday, the president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, Capt. Casey Murray, said the problems Southwest is experiencing have been brewing for a long time.

"We've been having these issues for the past 20 months," he said. "We've seen these sorts of meltdowns occur on a much more regular basis and it really just has to do with outdated processes and outdated IT."

When asked about the airline's processes, he said they haven't changed since the 1990s. "It's phones, it's computers, it's processing power, it's the programs used to connect us to airplanes -- that's where the problem lies, and it's systemic throughout the whole airline."

"This ultimately is a leadership problem," Murray stated. "Until we have some true leadership that is going to make some changes and really bring this airline into the 21st century we're going to continue to see this, and our customers and our employees are going to continue to suffer."

In other developments

-- In hard-hit western New York, Buffalo International Airport said in its most recent tweet that it does not plan to resume passenger flights before 11 a.m. ET Wednesday, pushing back the expected reopening by another 24 hours later than previously anticipated.

-- Greyhound, the largest provider of intercity bus service, issued a service alert on Monday afternoon stating many of its scheduled services in the upper northeast will be canceled or disrupted until further notice due to winter weather. Affected cities include Buffalo, Cleveland and Syracuse.

A rough holiday week

A winter storm that swept across the US was ill-timed for travelers who had started pushing Christmas week flying numbers back toward pre-pandemic levels.

On Christmas Day, 3,178 flights were canceled and 6,870 were delayed, according to FlightAware.

On Christmas Eve, there were a total of 3,487 flights canceled, according to FlightAware.

Friday was the worst day of this streak, with 5,934 cancellations, while Thursday saw almost 2,700 cancellations.

JetBlue Airways is reducing its schedule by about 1,280 flights from Thursday through Jan. 13 because a growing number of crew members are falling sick from COVID-19 infections.

"We expect the number of COVID cases in the northeast — where most of our crewmembers are based — to continue to surge for the next week or two," a JetBlue spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters. "This means there is a high likelihood of additional cancellations until case counts start to come down."

The 1,280 flights amount to about 10% of JetBlue's schedule.

Airlines have been canceling hundreds of flights every day in the United States since Christmas Eve as they grapple with staff shortages due to COVID-19 infections and bad weather in parts of the country. JetBlue is based in New York, which recorded a new record high of 67,000 positive cases on Tuesday.

More than 1,000 flights have been canceled within, into, or out of the U.S. as of Thursday, according to FlightAware. JetBlue canceled 17% of its flights Thursday with another 4% flights delayed.

European airlines are also canceling a small number of flights amid record-breaking numbers of COVID-19 cases in several European nations.

German airline Lufthansa said recently it, too, will cancel 10% of its winter flight schedule as the pandemic continues to hit the aviation industry.

In an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung last week, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said that due to "a sharp drop in bookings" the airline will have to cancel 33,000 flights from mid-January to February 2022 or 10% of the group's winter flight schedule.

Spohr's comments were confirmed to CNN by the Lufthansa press office.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Wednesday marked another rough day in travel in the U.S. as hundreds of flights were again canceled across the country.

According to FlightAware, U.S. airlines had canceled more than 800 flights by 12:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday afternoon. That comes a day after nearly 1,300 flights were canceled across the country on Tuesday.

United alone canceled 158 fights Wednesday, representing about 7% of the day's air traffic. Delta also canceled 103 flights.

The travel woes continue a trend that started last week following the Christmas holiday. Several airlines have confirmed that staffing shortages caused by COVID-19 infections have led to flights being canceled in the past week.

CNN obtained an internal memo from United last Thursday that noted that the rise of the more contagious omicron variant had a "direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation."

In a statement earlier this week, Delta Airlines told NPR that omicron staffing shortages also factored into its decision to cancel 344 flights on Christmas Day. NBC News reports that JetBlue and Alaska Airlines have also cited staffing shortages and COVID-19 outbreaks as reasons for canceling flights.

The flight cancelations will likely continue later on in the week. FlightAware says about 400 domestic flights scheduled for Thursday have already been canceled, in addition to 67 flights already canceled for Friday.

DENVER, Colo. (KMGH) — United Airlines and Delta Air Lines announced Thursday that they are forced to cancel Christmas Eve flights.

In a statement, United blamed the cancellations on staffing shortages due to COVID-19.

“The nationwide spike in omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation,” the statement said. “As a result, we’ve unfortunately had to cancel some flights."

United said it's notifying customers in advance of them arriving at the airport. The airline added that it is working to re-book as many passengers as possible.

A spokesperson for Delta also said COVID-19 is causing staffing shortages, but added that potential weather problems are also to blame.

The cancellations couldn't come at a worse time. Millions of people are expected to travel for the holidays.

This story was originally reported by Sydney Isenberg on thedenverchannel.com.

A Delta plane made an emergency landing in Oklahoma City Thursday night after a passenger allegedly assaulted a flight attendant and an air marshal.

Police told CNN that the man, who was allegedly drunk, attacked the flight attendant before assaulting the air marshal, who was helping restrain the man.

Following an emergency landing, the man was taken off the plane and later charged with public drunkenness and disorderly conduct, CNN reported.

The flight, which originated in Washington, D.C., eventually made it to its intended destination, Los Angeles.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says it has received more than 5,000 reports of unruly passengers this year. The most severe cases have been forwarded to the FBI for prosecution.

The FAA first began noticing a spike in cases at the start of the pandemic. A majority of incidents have been over the federal mask mandate.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is requiring airlines to submit information about passengers who are entering the U.S from southern Africa amid fears of the omicron COVID-19 variant spreading.

The order affects passengers who have been to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Airlines are required to provide the federal government with the passenger's name, address, phone number, email address, date of birth and flight information.

"CDC is issuing this Directive to prevent the importation and spread of a communicable disease of public health importance," the order states.

The omicron variant was first identified in South Africa. However, it's since been discovered in other countries. The U.S. reported its first case in California on Wednesday.

The World Health Organization has called the omicron variant a "variant of concern." However, it's still unclear how well vaccines work against the variant or if it causes more severe illness.