Nearly 6,000 flights canceled as blizzard blankets East Coast
Nor'easter cancels thousands of US flights A brutal nor’easter grounded more than U.S. 5,600 flights slated to depart between Friday, Jan. 28, 2022, and Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022, with nearly 4,800 flights canceled on Saturday. Jan. 29, 2022, alone. (structuresxx/Getty Images/iStockphoto)
By Kelli Dugan, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
A brutal nor’easter grounded more than 5,600 U.S. flights slated to depart between Friday and Sunday, with nearly 4,800 flights canceled on Saturday alone.
According to flight-tracking website FlightAware, cancellations within, into or out of the United States by 3 p.m. EST Saturday totaled 3,562, while another 1,125 flights were delayed by the inclement winter weather.
Affected airlines include JetBlue Airways, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines, USA Today reported.
The lion’s share of impacted Saturday flights, according to FlightAware, had been scheduled to depart from Boston Logan International Airport or the three main aviation hubs for New York City: LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty, The New York Times reported.
Delta confirmed to the Times on Friday that it would suspend operations at all four airports through Sunday morning and then re-evaluate the safety of resuming normal operations later in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, nearly another 1,100 flights within, into or out of the U.S. have been canceled for Sunday, according to FlightAware.
Travelers impacted by the meteorological snafu are advised to check their flight status before heading to the airport and to determine independently if travel waivers are in place to allow them to rebook without accruing additional charges, USA Today reported.
American Airlines spokesperson Curtis Blessing told the newspaper that the “vast majority” of impacted flights were preemptively canceled “so we could proactively notify and accommodate our customers and avoid last-minute disruptions at the airport.”
According to the Times, National Weather Service forecasters expect the “powerful and dangerous” nor’easter to push northward over the weekend, bringing with it strong winds, whiteout conditions and potential coastal flooding.
Winter weather blankets northeast A couple walks through the snow on Boston Common, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) (Michael Dwyer/AP)
Winter weather blankets northeast A skier launches off a jump on Boston Common, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022, in Boston. Forecasters watched closely for new snowfall records, especially in Boston, where the heaviest snow was expected late Saturday. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) (Michael Dwyer/AP)
Winter weather blankets northeast Snow fall on Boston Common, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) (Michael Dwyer/AP)
Winter weather blankets northeast Chris Andrade clears snow from a sidewalk in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. A nor'easter with hurricane-force wind gusts battered much of the East Coast on Saturday, flinging heavy snow that made travel treacherous or impossible, flooding coastlines, and threatening to leave bitter cold in its wake. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (David Goldman/AP)
Winter weather blankets northeast Mike Ratcliffe shovels snow from his driveway in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. A powerful nor'easter swept up the East Coast on Saturday, threatening to bury parts of 10 states under deep, furiously falling snow accompanied by coastal flooding and high winds that could cut power and leave people shivering in the cold weather expected to follow. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (David Goldman/AP)
Winter weather blankets northeast Chris Andrade clears snow from a sidewalk in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. A nor'easter with hurricane-force wind gusts battered much of the East Coast on Saturday, flinging heavy snow that made travel treacherous or impossible, flooding coastlines, and threatening to leave bitter cold in its wake. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (David Goldman/AP)
Winter weather blankets northeast A person snowboards while pulled from a pickup truck in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. A powerful nor'easter swept up the East Coast on Saturday, threatening to bury parts of 10 states under deep, furiously falling snow accompanied by coastal flooding and high winds that could cut power and leave people shivering in the cold weather expected to follow. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (David Goldman/AP)
Winter weather blankets northeast Snowflakes sit on the eyelash of Chris Andrade as he clears snow from a sidewalk in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. A nor'easter with hurricane-force wind gusts battered much of the East Coast on Saturday, flinging heavy snow that made travel treacherous or impossible, flooding coastlines, and threatening to leave bitter cold in its wake. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (David Goldman/AP)
Winter weather blankets northeast Snowflakes fall as a couple walks along a street in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. A powerful nor'easter swept up the East Coast on Saturday, threatening to bury parts of 10 states under deep, furiously falling snow accompanied by coastal flooding and high winds that could cut power and leave people shivering in the cold weather expected to follow. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (David Goldman/AP)
Winter weather blankets northeast A gust of wind blows snowflakes in the air along a street in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. A powerful nor'easter swept up the East Coast on Saturday, threatening to bury parts of 10 states under deep, furiously falling snow accompanied by coastal flooding and high winds that could cut power and leave people shivering in the cold weather expected to follow. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (David Goldman/AP)
Winter weather blankets northeast Vines scaling the side of a building are covered in snow in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. A powerful nor'easter swept up the East Coast on Saturday, threatening to bury parts of 10 states under deep, furiously falling snow accompanied by coastal flooding and high winds that could cut power and leave people shivering in the cold weather expected to follow. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (David Goldman/AP)
Photos: Northeast blizzard Snow blanketed Times Square in New York City early Saturday as a winter storm moved through the area. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Photos: Northeast blizzard A person walks through Times Square in New York City as snow blankets the region. ( Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Photos: Northeast blizzard Wilson Anibal Mejia walks through the snow to get to work at a restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island, on Saturday. (Dave Goldman/Associated Press)
Photos: Northeast blizzard A worker clears the sidewalk at East Pier in the East Boston neighborhood of Boston on Saturday. (Michael Dwyer/Associated Press)
Photos: Northeast blizzard A pair of plow trucks salt the roads as the beginning of a major snow storm arrives Saturday in Somerville, Massachusetts. (Josh Reynolds/Associated Press)
Photos: Northeast blizzard A dusting of snow falls at dawn as the beginning of a major snow storm arrives Saturday in Somerville, Massachusetts. (Josh Reynolds/Associated Press )
Photos: Northeast blizzard Church caretaker Wilian Roberto Vasquez clears snow from the sidewalk Saturday in Somerville, Massachusetts. (Josh Reynolds/Associated Press )
Photos: Northeast blizzard Snow covers the subway stairs in the Bushwick section of the Brooklyn borough of New York on Saturday. (Brittainy Newman/Associated Press)
Photos: Northeast blizzard A frontend loader removes snow at Clipper Ship Wharf in the East Boston neighborhood of Boston on Saturday morning. (Michael Dwyer/Associated Press)
Photos: Northeast blizzard A man walks down a snow-covered street in Boston on Saturday. (Michael Dwyer/Associated Press )
Photos: Northeast blizzard The snow blows along the Long Island sound Saturday in Stony Brook, New York. (Andrew Theodorakis/Getty Images)
Photos: Northeast blizzard Snow falls on a Hercules statue before sunrise Saturday in Stony Brook, New York. (Andrew Theodorakis/Getty Images)
Photos: Northeast blizzard A person walks through blinding snow in Hoboken, New Jersey, early Saturday. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
Photos: Northeast blizzard Robert Burck, known as the Naked Cowboy, stands in Times Square during Saturday's snowstorm. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
Photos: Northeast blizzard A woman braves the snow as she walks along 42nd Street in New York City on Saturday. ( Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
Photos: Northeast blizzard A man stands in front of a snow-covered lion statue at the New York Public Library on Saturday. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
Photos: Northeast blizzard Workers clear the sidewalk by the Harvard MBTA stop in Harvard Square during Saturday's snowstorm. (Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
Photos: Northeast blizzard A snowplow clears the highway on the Massachusetts Turnpike near Boston on Saturday. (Allison Dinner/Bloomberg via Getty Images)