Airlines cancel thousands of flights as blizzard cripples East Coast
A departure board distributes information about canceled flights during a winter storm at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, USA, on February 23, 2026.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
Ground air travel came to a near halt Monday at major airports serving New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and other parts of the eastern U.S. due to a powerful snowstorm. The outages are scheduled to last until at least Tuesday, and carriers are being tested once again on how quickly they can recover at the end of the winter break.
Much of the East Coast, from Maryland to Maine, was under a blizzard warning; Heavy snowfall has already reached nearly 2 feet in parts of New Jersey and Long Island, New York. The National Weather Service said strong winds are expected to continue throughout the day. The meteorologist warned that travel would be dangerous as snowfall caused visibility to decrease.
More than 4,900 U.S. departures on Monday, or close to 20% of total scheduled U.S. departures, were canceled as of 4:10 p.m. ET, according to aviation data firm Cirium. Daily cancellations typically occur around 1% of the daily schedule. Almost a quarter of incoming international flights were also cancelled.
More than 1,000 departures and arrivals at New York LaGuardia Airport were canceled on Monday, more than 90% of the daily schedule. More than 90% of flights at Boston Logan International Airport and more than 80% of flights at Philadelphia International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey were canceled.
Cirium said 1,576 flights were canceled on Tuesday, or about 7% of the daily schedule. Nearly half of departures at Kennedy Airport, LaGuardia and Boston were canceled Tuesday.
American Airlines Operations at these three airports will resume on Tuesday, he said, adding that flights have resumed at Philadelphia and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Airlines routinely cancel flights ahead of major storms to avoid grounding aircraft and crews and make it easier to restart operations after the storm has passed.
A man sleeps on the floor next to his luggage in Terminal B of New York LaGuardia Airport on February 22, 2026.
Charly Triballeau | Afp | Getty Images
American, Delta Airlines, JetBlue AirlinesSpirit Airlines and United Airlines Fees and fare differences have been waived for travelers if they can travel towards the end of this week, although some flexible rebooking policies remain in place until March 4. Southwest Airlines Customers have the right to make changes without paying a difference in fare if they rebook a flight or book a replacement flight within two weeks, he said.
The winter storm that hit much of the East Coast in January, followed by bitter cold, caused mass travel disruptions across large swathes of the United States
Americans struggled to recover, some facing harsh criticism from flight crews who were stranded and forced to sleep in airports, heightening tensions between front-line workers and the company’s CEO, Robert Isom.
The storm cost Americans between $150 million and $200 million in income, the carrier said in its earnings call last month.
