Winter storm snarls US travel, forces mass flight cancellations

A powerful winter storm sweeping across much of the US forced airlines to cancel thousands of flights and delay many on Monday, as freezing rain and heavy snowfall disrupted travel and snarled transportation networks.

About 5,300 flights were canceled and more than 4,300 delayed as of Monday afternoon, FlightAware data showed, after over 11,000 flights were scrapped on Sunday – the highest daily total since the pandemic, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

As of 8:20 a.m ET, nearly 14% of scheduled flights had been canceled, Cirium data showed.

Low pressure south of New England is expected to move east over the Atlantic on Monday, bringing heavy snow to parts of the Northeast and freezing rain across sections of the Mid-Atlantic, the U.S. National Weather Service said.

Experts at weather forecaster AccuWeather said the winter storm battering more than two dozen U.S. states is expected to cause preliminary damage and economic losses of between $105 billion and $115 billion.

The storm is set to become by far the costliest severe weather event since the Los Angeles-area wildfires, AccuWeather said.

American Airlines accounted for the largest share of disruptions on Monday, with nearly 900 flights canceled and about 600 delayed, followed by Republic Airways, JetBlue Airways and Delta Air Lines .

The disruptions also left thousands of travel plans in limbo. Passengers inundated carriers with queries on social media platforms to seek clarity on flight schedules.

United Airlines said it would begin restoring flights and was expecting significantly fewer cancellations on Monday. It had 282 cancellations as of Monday morning, according to FlightAware.

MORE DISRUPTION LIKELY

The Federal Aviation Administration said in an advisory that weather-related constraints, including snow, freezing rain and low visibility, were affecting major hubs such as Boston and the New York-area airspace.

The agency said ground stops and delay programs could be imposed through the afternoon at airports including LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy International, Philadelphia International, Newark Liberty International and Washington Dulles International if conditions worsen.

Airline operations are highly interconnected, meaning cancellations can leave aircraft and crews out of position, complicating efforts to restore normal flight schedules.

“The hotel cancellation rates for both USA and Canada has increased by 36% in the days running up to and during storm Fern,” online hotel booking site HotelPlanner said.

The storm also hit cargo operations, with parcel delivery giant UPS saying severe weather may have disrupted services in some areas and warned of further impacts on its air network, including at its Louisville, Kentucky hub.

Railroads CSX and BNSF said last week they were also bracing for operational disruptions due to the storm.

ROADS BATTERED, THOUSANDS WITHOUT POWER

The storm also impeded road travel. The Federal Emergency Management Agency warned that driving conditions could become dangerous as blizzard-like conditions, strong winds and ice spread further.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of customers across several U.S. states, from Tennessee to the Carolinas, reported power outages, with Tennessee reporting the most cases.

More than 820,000 customers were without electricity as of early hours on Monday, according to data from PowerOutage.us.