Photo: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP / Getty Images
A massive winter storm that swept across the United States has created the most extensive flight disruption since the COVID-19 pandemic, with airlines struggling to resume normal operations on Monday.
Winter Storm Fern dumped over a foot of snow across the Northeast after moving through the South, affecting nearly 180 million people from the southern Rocky Mountains to New England. The storm's aftermath continues to disrupt air travel, with more than 3,500 flights canceled on Monday following Sunday's record-breaking 12,585 cancellations, according to FlightAware data.
New York area airports were particularly hard hit. More than 40% of Monday's departures from LaGuardia and JFK airports were canceled, along with a third of flights from Newark Liberty International. LaGuardia Airport had temporarily closed on Sunday afternoon, with the Federal Aviation Administration grounding all flights until 8 p.m.
"The worst of the winter storm has passed," AccuWeather reported Monday morning, though snow continues to fall across Northern New England. However, the brutal Arctic freeze settling behind the storm is expected to slow de-icing and ground operations through mid-week.
Major carriers have expanded travel waivers as they work to reposition crews and aircraft. American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and other U.S. carriers are waiving change and cancellation fees as well as fare differences for customers with tickets to and from more than 40 affected airports.
"Airlines routinely cancel flights ahead of a major storm to prevent planes, passengers and crew from getting stranded, which can worsen disruptions after severe weather clears," aviation experts explain. The ripple effect has been felt acutely beyond the storm's direct path, with significant disruptions hitting major hubs in Dallas-Fort Worth, Charlotte, and Atlanta.
Vikrant Vaze, a Dartmouth professor specializing in commercial aviation logistics, told the Associated Press that recovery from the storm cancellations will take days if not longer. "Because there are so many different airlines involved, I think it's going to come down heavily to the individual airline's network structure, the extent of hit that each of them has had, and just the intrinsic capacity of the airlines to handle these massive disruptions."
For affected travelers, airlines are required to provide full refunds for canceled flights if passengers choose not to travel, even for non-refundable tickets. Travelers with upcoming flights this week are advised to check their flight status and confirm their airline's latest waiver before heading to the airport.
The winter storm comes less than a month after airspace closures over parts of the Caribbean following U.S. military actions in Venezuela, which also caused significant flight disruptions during the holiday season.
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