Blizzard cripples East Coast airports, canceling thousands of flights

A powerful blizzard ground air travel to a near halt at major airports serving New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and other areas of the eastern U.S. on Monday. Disruptions are set to last through at least Tuesday, again testing carriers on how quickly they can recover at the tail-end of winter break.

Much of the East Coast from Maryland to Maine was under a blizzard warning, with heavy snow already totaling nearly two feet in parts of New Jersey and on Long Island, New York. High wind gusts are expected to last throughout the day, the National Weather Service said. The NWS warned that travel will be treacherous, with blowing snow causing low visibility.

More than 4,800 U.S. departures Monday, or close to 20% of the total scheduled U.S. departures, were canceled, as of 9:40 a.m. ET, according to aviation-data firm Cirium. Daily cancellations usually run around 1% of the day’s schedule. Nearly a quarter of the inbound international flights were also canceled.

Over 1,000 departures and arrivals in and out of New York’s LaGuardia Airport, about 98% of the day’s schedule, were canceled Monday. More than 90% of the flights at Boston Logan International Airport and more than 80% of the flights at Philadelphia International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey were also scrubbed.

Flight disruptions were set to continue on Tuesday, with around 40% of the flights at LaGuardia and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport canceled, with roughly the same amount canceled in Boston, according to FlightAware.

Airlines routinely cancel flights ahead of major storms to avoid having aircraft and crews out of place and to make it easier to restart operations after the storm passes.