Over 2,200 Flights Canceled Saturday With Nor’easter Due To Pummel East Coast

The clock had barely struck noon today when more than 2,200 flights had been cancelled for Saturday, January 29, in anticipation of a major winter storm expected to begin Friday evening and pummel the eastern United States for much of Saturday.

“We’re watching for airports along the East Coast from as far south as Charleston to northern Maine to be possibly directly impacted by precipitation and/or wind,” said Kathleen Bangs, a former commercial airline pilot and current spokesperson for FlightAware, an app that provides real-time, historical, and predictive flight tracking data.

The National Weather Service is forecasting blizzard conditions for Boston, with total snow accumulations of 11 to 15 inches with wind gusts of up to 60 mph. Further south, the New York City forecast calls for 6 to 9 inches of snow and winds gusting as high as 45 mph. “Bitter cold air will filter in behind the Nor’easter and plunge temperatures across the eastern third of the country on Saturday. Highs will be 15-25 degrees below average in most places,” according to the alert.

The most impacted region is New York City, where a airports — JFK, Newark and LaGuardia — already have tallied a combined 677 flight cancellations. Boston’s Logan is slated for 255 cancellations so far.

JetBlue Airways, based at JFK International Airport with secondary hubs at Boston Logan and Washington Dulles, has canceled more than 400 flights on Saturday. American and United have canceled 355 and 214 flights, respectively.

Major airlines have issued travel waivers allowing passengers flying in or out of impacted airports to rebook without paying the fare difference. For consumers looking to change travel plans or recoup travel expenses, much will depend upon the airline, itinerary and, in some cases, whether a travel insurance policy was purchased.

For example, American Airlines has issued a winter travel alert impacting nearly five dozen airports. Passengers who bought a plane ticket before January 26 for a flight traveling Friday or Saturday to, from or through any of 57 listed airports may rebook flights without a change fee if they rebook by January 29 for travel through February 5.

As a point of comparison, JetBlue’s winter travel alert only covers 18 airports. Passengers traveling Friday or Saturday may rebook without an extra fee if the original ticket was purchased by January 26 and the new flight departs by February 1.