US Airlines canceled 5000 flights before the Snowstorm, US carriers on Friday canceled thousands of flights over the weekend in anticipation of a winter storm forecast to bring high winds and heavy snow to the northeast and mid-Atlantic.
The National Weather Service said in an advisory that the nor’easter would deliver dangerous blizzards and make travel “nearly impossible.” Flight-tracking service FlightAware reported that about 4,900 US flights were canceled between Friday and Sunday.
Delta Air Lines said it would suspend operations at LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports in New York, Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey, and Logan Airport in Boston from Saturday to Sunday morning.
The Atlanta-based carrier canceled 1,290 flights from Friday to Sunday. Customers who would have traveled were allowed to reschedule different flights at no additional cost.
“Delta teams are focused on safe and orderly operations at these airports and elsewhere in the Northeast on Sunday afternoon,” the company said in a statement.
New York-based JetBlue canceled nearly 500 flights on Sunday, including half of its flights on Saturday.
According to FlightAware, United Airlines has cut its Saturday flights by 21%.
The storm has added to the challenges facing the airline industry, which is trying to recover from the unrest caused by the Omicron coronavirus pandemic. The rise in COVID-19 infections among employees has left carriers short-staffed, forcing them to cancel flights.
Southwest Airlines Co. said on Thursday that about 5,000 employees, or about 10% of employees, had contracted the virus in the first three weeks of January. The company has canceled more than 5,600 flights so far this month, which are estimated to cost $50 million.
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