( CNN ) -- Though we 're still in the early stages of 2014 , it is already proving one of the most expensive years for the travel industry . According to masFlight , an enterprise software company that crunches big data for the transport and logistics sectors , January 's bizarre weather patterns have already cost passengers flying into and out of the U.S. $ 2.5 billion , and airlines between $ 75m and $ 150m because of canceled and delayed flights . `` It 's not easy for an airline to recoup losses resulting from an aircraft being delayed or canceled , '' says Tulinda Larsen , masFlight 's vice president of business development . `` The cost of pilots that do n't take off , the crew overtime , reimbursing tickets -- those costs are n't easy to make up . '' For passengers , a plane stuck on the tarmac can cost more than aggravation and the price of a ticket . Even with a refund , stranded fliers are stuck with the bill for hotel rooms , taxis , rental cars , food and other unanticipated expenses . `` On average , a canceled flight takes a passenger an additional 18 hours of travel time to get to their destination , '' Larsen explains . `` During that time , they 're going to incur costs they were n't anticipating , costs the airlines do n't have a responsibility to cover , so that passengers are going to be out of pocket . '' According to flight-tracking website FlightAware , this has been the worst year on record for cancellations in the US . Since December 1 , 2013 , nearly 90,000 flights have been canceled . `` Domestically , it 's been a terrible year . By the end of January , we 've has as many cancellations as we usually see through mid-April , '' says Mark Duell , FlightAware 's vice president of operations . Regional airlines were the most affected by the weather , though none as severely as JetBlue , which saw its revenue for January reduced by $ 45 million . `` While we generally have a strong ability to recapture revenue when we cancel flights during weather events by re-accommodating , our re-booking options for our customers during this high-traffic period were very limited , '' admits JetBlue spokeswoman Tamara Young . According to Larsen , however , the weather in-and-of itself was n't what grounded millions of flyers , but the airline 's capacity to handle them . Larsen blames two government regulations for the issue , the first issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation delaying the amount of time a plane is allowed to stay on the tarmac to three hours ( and imposing $ 27,500 in fines for carriers that do n't comply ) , and the second is a restriction on how long pilots can remain on duty . `` Those are two artificial policy restraints that airlines are working with operationally , '' she says . Another issue is airlines stuffing planes to capacity , meaning when there are cancellations or delays , there is less flexibility in booking passengers on an alternative flight . `` Load factor is the highest it 's been in history . It 's not easy to re-accommodate passengers a couple of days later , '' Duell notes . Given the likelihood that this year 's bizarre weather patterns are possibly a result of climate change , and could become less of an anomaly and more the norm , one wonders how airlines are prepared to adjust in future years . Duell recons one bad winter wo n't be enough to spur airlines to action . `` No one will look at one winter and decide to spend a lot of money they do n't have , '' he says . `` But I think if we see a lot of bad winters in a row , airlines will invest in more tools , processes , and procedures to help them recover . '' Read more : Passengers behaving badly . Read more : How do you protect airplanes from the cold ?
Bad weather has caused an historic number of flight cancellations and delays in and out of U.S . airports and delays cost over $ 1 billion in costs so far . They ' ve cost airlines an additional $ 100 m to $ 150 m .