Airlines Cancel Hundreds of New York Flights Ahead of Predicted Snow

Major carriers pre-emptively canceled hundreds of flights at Kennedy International, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty after forecasters warned of up to nine inches of snow, leaving thousands of holiday travelers scrambling to rebook. FlightAware recorded more than 400 inbound and outbound cancellations across the three airports on Saturday and nearly 900 cancellations on Friday, with hundreds more delayed.

Airline spokesmen said the early cancellations were intended to prevent cascading operational failures from last‑minute changes. "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 officials pointed to the airline’s disruptive 2022 winter breakdown as a lesson. "That’s really the best strategy," Mr. Perry said, adding, "There was a lot of lessons learned." He warned that leaving planes and crews waiting can lead to "what becomes a multiday operational failure." Delta said it followed a similar approach.

"A flight cancellation is a last resort after all other options have been exhausted," Michael Thomas, a Delta spokesman, wrote. He said cancels were made proactively to manage expected Air Traffic Control delay programs and constraints at airfields brought on by the snow, and that snow removal, de‑icing and crew duty limits also produced delays.

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Health, India, Business, Airlines, Travel, Snow, Flight Cancellations