Storm causes more canceled flights in Texas

DALLAS (AP) - An ice and snow storm that moved through Texas on Wednesday caused the cancellation of about 500 departing and arriving flights in Dallas and more in other central U.S. states.

Nationwide, the total of canceled flights passed 1,200 by mid-afternoon, according to tracking service FlightAware.com.

Besides cancelations at Dallas-Fort Worth International, a hub for American Airlines, Houston and Memphis were each hit by about 150 canceled flights. Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport is a hub for Continental.

Smaller numbers of cancelations stretched from Denver to Atlanta.

With the Texas focus of Wednesday's bad weather, it was no surprise that American Airlines and its regional affiliate, American Eagle, absorbed nearly half the cancelations.

It's been a severe winter for airlines. Last week, ice and frigid temperatures led to more than 20,000 cancelations, and that followed big storms in December and January that wiped out thousands of flights each.

Vaughn Cordle of AirlineForecasts, who advises institutional investors, estimates last week's storm cost U.S. airlines between $120 million and $150 million in lost profit. Cordle's estimates include lost revenue offset by money saved because the airlines don't burn fuel on canceled flights.