Sandy a nightmare for fliers as airlines ground 13,800 flights

5:42 PM, Oct 29, 2012   |    comments
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Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY

October 29. 2012 - Updated at 4:40 p.m. ET on Monday, Oct. 29, 2012

The number of flight cancellations resulting from Hurricane Sandy is now pushing 14,000, according to the FlightAware flight-tracking service.

And that number -13,785 as of 4:30 p.m. ET - still seems likely to grow over the next day as Sandy moves onshore and heads inland.

So far, FlightAware says Sandy forced the cancellation of 1,300 flights on Sunday and 7,670 so far today (Oct. 29). Tuesday's total currently stands at 4,815 a figure that FlightAware CEO Daniel Baker says "is expected to grow depending on the outcome of the storm, possibly becoming as high as today's number."

Once Tuesday's final cancellation tally is included, it seems to be almost a foregone conclusion that Sandy's toll on flight schedules will top the 14,000 Hurricane Irene-related flight cancellations that were reported over a four-day period in August 2011.