Southwest flights are snarled by weather across mid-continent

Southwest Airlines Co. delayed more than 1,100 flights Friday, about 30% of its daily schedule, because of summer storms affecting service across its system, according to FlightAware.com.

Severe thunderstorms prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to temporarily block landings at the Denver airport, causing delays averaging 59 minutes, according to the agency’s website. Aircraft headed to Orlando, Florida, weren’t being allowed to depart until after 6:30 p.m. local time, also because of storms, and departures were delayed by as much as 45 minutes, the agency said. Weather-related delays also were reported in Tampa, Florida.

About 224 Southwest flights were canceled, FlightAware.com data showed. Around 428 American Airlines Group Inc. flights also were delayed, or 14% of its total, and 68 were canceled.

Southwest has canceled hundreds of flights this week because of expected strong storms. Technical system disruptions a little over a week ago caused the airline to cancel or delay more than 1,400 flights.