Thousands of flights were canceled in the U.S. on Saturday as a powerful Nor’easter pummeled the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast with several inches of snow.
According to flight tracking service FlightAware, more than 3,500 flights were grounded as of Saturday afternoon. JetBlue, which had the most cancellations with 579 scrapped flights, axed nearly 70 percent of its schedule.
Delta tallied 469 cancellations, as the airline suspended operations at LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy, Newark Liberty and Boston Logan airports Saturday through Sunday morning, according to a statement from spokesperson Morgan Durrant.
American Airlines had 479 canceled flights. Meanwhile, nearly 400 United Airlines flights were canceled in addition to 427 Republic Delta and 213 Southwest.
“The vast majority of impacted flights have been canceled in advance so we could proactively notify and accommodate our customers and avoid last-minute disruptions at the airport,” American Airlines spokesperson Curtis Blessing told USA TODAY in an emailed statement. “We apologize to our customers whose travel plans may be affected, and want to thank our team who are working tirelessly to help us safely care for our customers.”
The governors of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Rhode Island and Virginia declared states of emergency on Saturday due to the powerful Nor’easter, which ripped through the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast starting Friday night.
“This storm is likely to strengthen at a rate, and to an intensity, equivalent to only the most powerful hurricanes, so the high-end potential of this storm cannot be overstated,” CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller said. “But with nor’easters, like in real estate, it will all come down to location, location, location.”
