Airports across the East Coast are bracing for a tumultuous travel weekend as a winter storm approaches. Airlines have axed nearly 3,500 flights across the US, with New York, Boston, and Philadelphia leading the numbers. The cancellations come after airlines already struggle to staff flights over COVID cases.

No-go today

Data from FlightAware shows that airlines have axed their entire schedules for Saturday due to the storm's impact. The three major New York-area airports, JFK, EWR, and LGA, have canceled 80%, 91%, and 97% of departures respectively. Only a handful of cargo and long-haul flights (2-20%) are set to land, but these may be diverted later in the day.

Other airports in the Northeast are suffering as well. Boston Logan (BOS) will see 97% of its outbound flights canceled today, with only 9% scheduled to land. Philadelphia (PHL) is seeing a similar but slightly curtailed impact of 63% of canceled departures today.

Delta Air Lines, Full Year Profit, Omicron
Delta Air Lines announced one week ago that it had also approved the Releye container for use on its planes. Photo: Vincenzo Pace - Simple Flying

Overall, travelers in the Northeast are unlikely to be flying today or even this weekend, so keep an eye on airlines notifications. Carriers usually issue travel waivers in the event of weather disruptions, allowing travelers to rebook on a different day with no extra charge.

Carriers hit

As one might assume, airlines based in the Northeast and East Coast or with large bases have been hit the hardest. JetBlue has seen 63% of its schedule axed as major routes from JFK, EWR, and BOS are canceled today and possibly tomorrow as well. American, United, and Delta have seen 18%, 22%, and 19% of their schedules nixed for now.

JetBlue A321LR
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Regional carriers like Republic Airways (which flies under American Eagle, United Regional, and Delta Connection) saw 62% of its schedule canceled today as the coast hunkers down. Airlines will now be preparing for a rush of travelers in the next few days once safe operations can resume.

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Struggling to staff up

For US airlines, the cancellations come at a bad time. For over a month, since Christmas to be precise, airlines have been struggling to find crews to fill flights. With cases surging across the US, thousands of workers have been isolating every week. This has led to a crisis of crew scheduling, leading to canceled flights.

While it's tough to say how many flights have been canceled due to shortage today, nearly 1,500 nixed were on Friday alone. Shorter isolation times, as little as five days in the US, have eased pressure on carriers but nowhere near pre-winter levels.

Hawaiian Airlines A330 crew
Airline crews have been serving 10 days in isolation if they test positive for COVID-19 until a recent CDC rule change. Photo: Hawaiian Airlines

For now, airlines will be hoping that mass cancellations don't carry into the summer, which is set to be the biggest since the pandemic hit. If all goes well, the trouble should be well gone by then, with Southwest already seeing the end of the current COVID wave.

What do you think about the US' flight cancellations? Let us know in the comments!