Airlines in the United States have canceled or delayed thousands of flights on Friday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware, due to winter storm Devin during peak holiday travel, while some states restricted commercial road traffic in anticipation of snowfall.
A total of 1,802 flights were canceled and 22,349 delayed as of 4:04 p.m. ET, the website said.
The National Weather Service issued warnings of winter storm Devin this afternoon which “will cause hazardous travel conditions for the Great Lakes into the northern Mid-Atlantic and southern New England today through Saturday morning.”
“For areas farther north from upstate New York to the Tri-State area including New York City and Long Island, 4-8 inches of snowfall is forecast for late Friday into (the) night,” National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center noted on the official website.
New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, and LaGuardia Airport have put out posts on X, warning travelers of potential delays or cancellations.
More than half of the flight cancellations and delays took place at these three airports, according to FlightAware.
JetBlue Airways has canceled 225 flights, the most among the carriers, closely followed by Delta Air Lines canceling 212 flights.
Republic Airways canceled 157 flights, while 146 were canceled by American Airlines and 97 by United Airlines.
Spokespersons from American Airlines, United Airlines, and JetBlue told Reuters the carriers have waived off change fees for re-booking for travelers whose plans may be affected.
“Due to winter storm Devin, JetBlue has canceled approximately 350 flights today and tomorrow, primarily in the Northeast where JetBlue has a large operation,” the JetBlue spokesperson said.
Delta Air Lines and Republic did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Ahead of the winter storm, New York and New Jersey declared a state of emergency from Friday afternoon.
“As widespread snowfall is expected to start in New York City and its surrounding areas this evening, I will declare a State of Emergency to ensure that our agencies and local partners have the resources and tools they need to respond to the storm,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said.
New Jersey and Pennsylvania issued commercial vehicle restrictions on some roads, including many interstate highways.
“This storm will cause dangerous road conditions and impact holiday travel,” New Jersey’s acting governor Tahesha Way said in a statement. “We are urging travelers to avoid travel during the storm and allow crews to tend to the roads.”
(Reporting by Aatreyee Dasgupta and Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru and Maria Tsvetkova in New York; Additional reporting by Megavarshini G. Somasundaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Nick Zieminski)
