Airlines cancel thousands of flights as blizzard cripples East Coast airports

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 2 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 weather service warned that travel will be treacherous, with blowing snow causing low visibility.

More than 4,900 U.S. departures Monday, or close to 20% of the total scheduled U.S. departures, were canceled, as of 4:10 p.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.

More than 1,000 departures and arrivals in and out of New York’s LaGuardia Airport, more than 90% 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.

On Tuesday, 1,576 flights had already been canceled, around 7% of the daily schedule, Cirium said. Around half of the departures at Kennedy Airport, LaGuardia and Boston were canceled for Tuesday.

American Airlines said operations at the those three airports are set to resume on Tuesday, adding that flights have already resumed at Philadelphia and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

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.

American, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines and United Airlines waived fees and fare differences for passengers if they can travel later this week, though some flexible rebooking policies are in place until March 4. Southwest Airlines said customers are eligible for a change without paying a difference in fare if they can rebook to fly or fly standby within two weeks.

The winter storm that hit much of the East Coast in January and was followed by bitter cold caused mass travel disruptions across a large swath of the U.S.

American had struggled to recover, drawing harsh criticism from flight crews, some of whom were stranded and had to sleep at airports, heightening tension between front-line employees and the company’s CEO, Robert Isom.

The storm cost American between $150 million and $200 million in revenue, the carrier said last month on an earnings call.