Airlines Cancel Hundreds of New York Flights Ahead of Forecasted Snow

Major carriers pre-emptively canceled hundreds of flights at New York’s three main airports as forecasters warned of as much as nine inches of snow, leaving many holiday travelers scrambling to rebook. John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty saw more than 400 cancellations on Saturday and hundreds of additional delays, according to FlightAware.

Nearly 900 flights had been canceled at the three airports on Friday. Airline spokesmen said the moves were intended to avoid cascading operational disruptions: small, late cancellations can strand crews and aircraft and lead to multiday failures. "The worst thing you can do for your whole operation is to cancel flights really close into the time they’re supposed to depart," said Chris Perry of Southwest Airlines.

Southwest pointed to lessons learned from a 2022 winter storm that forced mass cancellations and long recoveries. "It’s not worth the risk to put our airplanes and our crews there waiting to see if they’re going to be able to depart," Mr. Perry said. Delta said it followed a similar strategy, citing forecasted snow, air-traffic constraints and time-consuming procedures like snow removal and de-icing.

Delta spokesman Michael Thomas said cancels were made proactively to manage expected delays and operational limits, including crew duty-time rules. Some travelers were inconvenienced but managed to reach their destinations.

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Health, India, Business, Aviation, Travel, Snowstorm, Flight Cancellations