U.S. airlines maintained most of their schedules ahead of a nor’easter impacting the Northeast this weekend, though minor disruptions have begun to appear. United Airlines, American Airlines, and JetBlue Airways announced that passengers affected by the storm can alter their travel plans without incurring change fees or fare differences. This flexibility applies to flights at any time before mid-next week for travelers residing in or departing from New York City, Boston, and smaller airports throughout New England.
Flight cancellations persisted on Sunday as the storm brought heavy rainfall and strong winds to the region. According to FlightAware data, approximately 200 flights were canceled around Boston on Sunday, representing roughly 15% of the day’s scheduled operations. An additional 260 flights were canceled on Saturday, with dozens more experiencing delays at major airports in New England and the New York area.
While carriers typically cancel significant portions of their schedules during severe winter storms or hurricanes to prevent planes, crews, and passengers from becoming stranded, the overall disruption from this nor’easter was far less severe than that of previous major storms.
The weekend weather events follow a significant equipment outage on Monday that forced airlines to cancel hundreds of flights bound for Philadelphia and the New York area.
After the system outage Monday, I’m not surprised flights are already cancelled. The tech support is clearly overwhelmed.
Wait, does this waive fare differences too? The article says ‘no change fees or fare differences’ but I want to be sure.
Strange how airlines rarely cancel proactively for nor’easters compared to hurricanes. Hope they don’t strand us again.
JetBlue being lenient is a relief. My flight got cancelled and the new one is three days later!