As Winter Storm Fern continues to bring freezing temperatures and snow across North America, from New Mexico to Maine, air travel is enjoying record success.
A total of 11,016 flights were canceled in the United States as of 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, according to FlightAware data. By Bloombergthis is the highest number of cancellations since the pandemic.
The winter storm began Friday and gradually moved eastward. On Saturday, 4,104 flights were canceled, compared to just 690 on Friday. The storm is expected to continue hitting parts of the Northeast through Monday. There are already 2,465 cancellations planned across the country for tomorrow, most of which will take place at Boston Logan International Airport and the three major airports in the greater New York City area.
Even after the snowstorm ends on Monday, frigid temperatures and icy conditions will persist through the week.
“Frankly, it will be colder than any prolonged period New York has had in about eight years,” said New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. said during a briefing on Saturday.
There are several complete airport closures and ground delays across the country, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Some regional and international airports in Mississippi, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Illinois, New York, Tennessee, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Texas, South Carolina and Virginia were closed due to the storm, including New York’s LaGuardia Airport. There are ground delays at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and Dallas Fort Worth Airport in Texas, with delays reaching more than two hours.
Ground stops at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Detroit Wayne County Metropolitan Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport are also possible, according to the FAA.
More than 10% of the cancellations were for flights to and from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where airport facilities like the skytrain are also located. limited operation. Georgia was hit hard by the storm: around 80,000 households are struggling power outages across the state.
About 10% of affected flights took place at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina. The Charlotte area’s transit system has also had to suspend all public transport services in the region until 10 a.m. on Mondays. New Jersey had to issue a similar opinion suspension of transit Also.
Other major airports affected by flight cancellations include Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport.
The winter storm appears to have hit American Airlines the hardest as 50% of its scheduled flights were canceled and 17% were delayed. Delta Air Lines is a close second with 1,449 cancellations and 451 delays.
