United Cancels Flights From Four Area Airports

As many as 37 United Airlines flights out of Southern California’s four major airports were canceled Thursday because of a shortage of pilots and severe weather in the Midwest, company officials said.

Los Angeles International Airport was hit hardest by the cancellations, with at least 24 scrubbed flights, followed by Burbank Airport with six, John Wayne Airport with four and Ontario International Airport with three, airline spokesman Andy Plews said.

Systemwide, the airline nixed nearly 400 flights Thursday, partly because of severe thunderstorms at United’s main hub at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, Plews said. Other airlines operating at O’Hare were affected as well.

Also interrupting United’s daily schedule of 2,400 flights worldwide was the refusal of some pilots to fly overtime while contract negotiations are underway between their union and the airline. Negotiations on the pilots’ contract opened last month.

Plews said continued pilot shortages could force cancellation of about 100 flights a day. The airline has begun canceling some flights up to a week in advance to reduce customer inconvenience, he said.

It was uncertain how many, if any, Southern California flights would be affected, Plews said.