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Wildfire smoke has caused cancellations and delays among larger planes at the Medford airport. Smoke from the Ramsey Canyon fire, burning near Sams Valley, is the main source halting airlines’ operations, according to Medford airport director Jerry Brienza. The fire, which started Wednesday, has burned 800 acres and is 15 percent contained as of a Thursday afternoon Joint Information Center update. Because of the smoke, Brienza said the Federal Aviation Authority released a “Notice to Airmen” that advises pilots of conditions at and near the airport, which caused multiple airlines to cancel flights. Brienza said United Airlines and American Airlines have canceled all flights out of the airport scheduled for today, and Delta Air Lines has canceled one flight and is posting delays for others. Currently, flights with Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air are running as scheduled. Brienza said he is “not sure about Allegiant flights yet, because they haven’t posted any notices of cancellations.” “The new Ramsey Canyon fire has created so much smoke and reduced visibility for our approaches into the area,” he said. “All airlines have guidelines regarding visibility needed to land, so many larger jets and aircraft are restricted.” Brienza said one of the airport’s two runways is “almost completely unusable,” because planes would need to fly over the fire to land on it. He said the other runway is operating three of four of its approach paths for planes to land. National weather service meteorologist Brad Schaaf said sensors are showing only two-and-a-half miles of visibility due to the smoke, and throughout the past week visibility has been down to less than one mile. “When we have a lot of smoke in the area we see these visibility restrictions, especially near the ground’s surface,” he said. “Airplanes have to have a plan of what to do if they can’t land.” Schaaf said a cold front is expected to come through this weekend, bringing in “breezier winds from the west and northwest,” which could push smoke out of the valley. “That being said, the Ramsey Canyon fire is so close to the valley, so the relief there might be very brief,” he said. “You can never be too sure.” This afternoon, air quality in the region mainly settled at “unhealthy,” according to Oregon Department of Environmental Quality air monitoring data. Schaaf said the ongoing pattern of “unhealthy” air quality is expected to continue “until the rains come — which isn’t soon.” For travelers, Brienza said people should plan to arrive at the airport Friday “very, very early,” as people who had canceled flights today likely will be there trying to get new flights, making things “very busy in the airport.” Brienza said the best way for travelers to stay up-to-date with flight information is to download their particular airline’s mobile app, or to call the airline directly. “Right now, we’re just trying to watch the weather and hope the smoke clears out so all airlines are able to continue activity at our airport as usual,” he said. “Hopefully things will be operating as usual soon.” Reach Mail Tribune reporting intern Morgan Theophil at [email protected] or 541-776-4485. Follow her on Twitter @morgan_theophil.