The Artic snowstorm that has wreaked havoc with commuter and air travel in much of the US Northeast has already cost the country at least $1.4 billion.
The estimate has been produced by masFlight, a Maryland based aviation operations firm, calculating the financial cost of time lost by airlines and passengers.
The company’s findings are based on lost productivity and extra expenses on meals, hotels and alternate transportation caused by 19,000 canceled and 75,000 delayed flights since January 2.
According to the study, over 8 million flyers were directly affected by canceled flights and delays, with a domino effect being felt at airports throughout the country.
However, the current situation is unlikely to severely impact airline stocks, according to an analyst.
"With US airlines in much stronger financial positions and investors increasingly focused on the bigger industry picture, severe weather in any one quarter is increasingly looked through by the markets. Moreover, short-term weather impact is disruptive to passengers but financially is a minor factor for earnings versus trends in the overall economy or fuel prices," said David Fintzen, an airline analyst with Barclays.
Meanwhile the big freeze lingers on as the National Weather Service reinforced its advisory for the upper Midwest to the mid-Atlantic region with wind chill factors pushing temperatures close to 50 below zero.
