The cost of flight delays from wild weather: $2.5 billion and counting

(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 don't take off, the crew overtime, reimbursing tickets -- those costs aren'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 weren't anticipating, costs the airlines don't have a responsibility to cover, so that passengers are going to