New York City has experienced over 2,000 delayed or canceled flights in just a 24-hour span, involving the city's three major airports: John F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, and LaGuardia Airport.
New York-Style Storms
New York's major airports have reported on Sunday that severe weather has caused numerous flights to be delayed or canceled, changing plans for possible tens of thousands of travelers. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has reportedly made the call to delay or cancel most of these flights.
According to FlightAware, New York's 3 major airports were among the top in cancelled and delayed flights on Sunday, August 18. Here are the reported figures:
Airport | Cancelled Arrivals | Cancelled Departures | Delayed Arrivals | Delayed Departures |
JFK | 77 | 85 | 327 | 280 |
Newark | 145 | 179 | 159 | 132 |
LaGuardia | 179 | 186 | 134 | 101 |
A few hundred more changes have occurred on Monday morning, adding the total to over 2,200 in New York caused by extreme weather.
The FAA had posted this statement on its website Sunday evening:
“Departures to LaGuardia are grounded due to thunderstorms. The probability of extension is medium (30-60%) ... Departures to John F Kennedy International are grounded due to thunderstorms.”
Other major travel cities affected by Sunday's storms include Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Toronto.
This is reportedly the biggest collection of cancelations in New York City since the worldwide IT CrowdStrike outage that took place a month ago.
For what it's worth, the FAA named Newark and LaGuardia among the top airports with the most flight delays in the 2023 fiscal year.
Checking In With Your Airport
As normal business resumes, that doesn't mean you should head to the airport just yet. Be sure to log in or contact their airline to find out if their flights will still continue as planned.
You can visit Newark's Website, LaGuardia's website or JFK's website to check your flight's status.
Alternatively, you can log into your account at Delta, United, American Airlines, JetBlue, Endeavor Air, Southwest, Spirit, GoJet, or Republic Airways. For some airlines, you should also get notifications on your mobile device for any updates on your flight, including when you should head to the airport and prepare to board.
These decisions are not always easy to make, but conditions on the runway and in the air must always be satisfactory for any airport and airline. Having your flight cancelled or delayed is never a good feeling, but the silver lining is that airports are making safety the top priority for travelers.
What do you think of the weekend delays? Do you think it was safe for some flights to go on as planned? Let us know in the comments section down below!