A mounting backlog of flights in the US has left passengers stranded.

Thousands of passengers were left stranded by flight cancellations due to thunderstorms and a mounting backlog of trips in the US over the weekend.

Sunday (April 19) saw six aviation hubs in the United States overwhelmed as flights were delayed and cancelled amid storms moving across the central and south-eastern parts of the country.

It came as the US travel system dealt with high numbers of travellers during one of the first busy spring weekends of 2026.

Six aviation hubs in the United States were overwhelmed as flights were delayed and cancelled amid storms | AFP via Getty Images

placeholder image — Six aviation hubs in the United States were overwhelmed as flights were delayed and cancelled amid storms | AFP via Getty Images

Tracking data on Sunday showed the storms affected busy parts of the country for flights, including for Chicago O'Hare, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, Dallas Fort Worth, Denver International, LaGuardia, and Newark Liberty airports, which each showed hundreds of delayed or cancelled journeys.

Links between the sites caused a ripple effect through the aviation system, meaning travellers missed connections to destinations beyond those areas, with airports seeing long queues and luggage piling up in claim halls as airlines issued travel waivers, consolidated flights and deployed larger aircraft.

It comes as the US attempts to deal with concerns over staffing levels at US air traffic control and airport infrastructure hubs.