Although the current economic/political situation continues to eat into the U.S. air transport industry, one of the biggest impacts on regional airline traffic for February was the weather.

While virtually every U.S. airline suffered to some extent, the biggest disruption was in the Northeast, where flights of the major carriers were delayed or canceled, causing a chain reaction with their regional partners.

One of the hardest hit airlines was US Airways, which didn't help its US Airways Express carriers (Allegheny, Piedmont and PSA). Its major hubs in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh were completely socked in by snow, while its Charlotte hub was hit by an ice storm.

Already reporting poor results for January, the three carriers continued to report negative figures in every category but load factors, which went up 2.3 points for February 2003 compared with February 2002, and 1 point for the first two months of the year compared to the same period in 2002. More than 1,500 flights were cancelled over the three-day period of the biggest storm.

In contrast, American cancelled only about a quarter of its flights, while United cancelled less 20 percent of its flights, having little impact on American Eagle and United Express carriers.