Airlines cancel most NYC-area flights as snowstorm hits

Airlines canceled most New York City-area flights scheduled for Monday ahead of a strong winter storm that’s expected to bring high winds and heavy snow to the region. Local officials also urged people to stay off roads.

Flight schedules were already drastically lower than the norm because of the Covid-19 pandemic and a host of travel restrictions.

LaGuardia Airport midmorning said all commercial flights were suspended, while public transportation to John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport was disrupted and most afternoon flights were canceled.

More than 70% the departures scheduled from Kennedy Airport, or 151 flights, have been canceled as have 90%, or 106 flights from LaGuardia Airport, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking site. More than 70% of the departures, 162 flights, from United Airlines hub at Newark were also canceled. A snowstorm canceled about a quarter of departures from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Sunday.

American Airlines on Monday afternoon said it canceled flights for the rest of the day at LaGuardia, Kennedy, Newark, Boston, Providence and that operations will be limited at those airports on Tuesday. American said operations were scaled back at its Philadelphia hub on Monday.

Airlines stopped charging ticket change fees last year in an effort to boost bookings in the pandemic but several major carriers said they won’t charge fare differences for travelers affected by the winter storm.

Delta Air Lines and American Airlines said travelers can change their tickets to and from more than two-dozen airports in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast without paying a difference in fare if they can rebook by Saturday.

New York-based JetBlue Airways said travelers won’t have to pay the fare difference if they can travel by Friday while United had a similar policy if customers rebook Sunday. All the carriers encouraged customer to check with their airline for up-to-date information.