Round II: Airlines axe hundreds of flights, waive change fees

For the second time in a week, airlines have cancelled hundreds of flights and waived change fees as a major winter takes aim at air travelers.

More than 200 flights have already been cancelled at Chicago O'Hare, where the snow began falling late Monday, according to The Associated Press. Hundreds of flights also have been pulled off the schedule at Chicago Midway, where Southwest Airlines – the dominant carrier there – has cancelled all of its flights beginning 10 a.m. CT Tuesday through 10 a.m. CT Wednesday, according to AP. And a new wave of flight cancellations has begun in the mid-Atlantic, even as that region continues to dig out from the Blizzard of 2010 that dumped up to three feet of snow during the weekend.

Southwest says it has cancelled "the majority" of its flights at Baltimore/Washington (BWI) and Washington Dulles airports from late Tuesday through midday Wednesday. Both Chicago Midway and BWI are among Southwest's busiest airports, so the effects of the carrier's cancellations at those airports are all but certain to ripple through its nationwide network. Other airlines are all but certain to experience cascading weather problems, as well, as the storm intensifies. And, unlike the previous storm, this storm is expected to hit New York City, likely disrupting schedules at the three big airports there. Combine airport problems in New York with what's expected at other hubs like Chicago, Washington and Philadelphia, and delays could become widespread -- even in parts of the country with calm weather. A flight from Miami to Houston, for example, could be delayed or cancelled if the aircraft scheduled to fly that flight gets stuck in snowy Chicago or New York. 

Meanwhile, nearly a dozen carriers have waived change fees for travelers affected by the storm.