Travelers at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in the Queens borough of New York, USA, on Friday, December 26, 2025.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
More than 900 U.S. flights were canceled and nearly 8,000 were delayed Saturday after a severe winter storm hit the northeastern U.S., testing airlines during one of the busiest travel times of the year.
According to the National Weather Service, the region saw less snowfall overall than originally forecast, although John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey each recorded more than four inches of snow.
More than 136 flights, about a fifth of scheduled departures from Kennedy Airport, were canceled, according to flight tracking site FlightAware. Another 87 were canceled from New York’s LaGuardia Airport, about 20% of the day’s scheduled departures and 72 or 12% of departures from Newark were canceled.
Airlines canceled more than 1,700 flights on Friday, most of them in advance of the storm. According to FlightAware, only 27 U.S. flights were listed as canceled for Sunday.
American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways and other airlines waived change fees for restrictive basic economy tickets. They said they would not charge a price difference for other customers flying to and from numerous airports in the northeastern United States
Customers will have to travel until the end of the year if they change their flights, the airlines said. With limited seats available during the busy Christmas week, flying as early as possible is probably your best bet.
Airlines for America, the industry lobbying group, expects airlines to carry a record 52.6 million people between Dec. 19 and Jan. 5, with Friday and Sunday among the busiest days.
Airlines typically cancel flights early during predicted major weather events, such as blizzards or hurricanes, to prevent aircraft, connecting travelers and crews from being stranded and disruptions from worsening.
Comments are closed.