A massive winter storm made for a brutal travel day Sunday, with widespread cancellations and delays at some of the nation\u2019s busiest airports. Widespread snow, sleet and freezing rain threatened nearly 180 million people \u2014 more than half the U.S. population \u2014 in a path stretching from the southern Rocky Mountains to New England, the National Weather Service said Saturday night. After sweeping through the South, the storm moved into the Northeast Sunday, and was expected to dump about 1 to 2 feet (30 to 60 centimeters) of snow from Washington through New York and Boston.<\/p>\n
More than 10,800 flights were canceled on Sunday, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. Aviation analytics firm Cirium said that as of Sunday morning, the storm is the highest experienced cancellation event since the pandemic.
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\nBy Sunday afternoon, the majority of flights were canceled at busy airports in the Northeast and elsewhere. LaGuardia Airport in New York closed Sunday afternoon, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency said on its website the busy Queens airport grounded flights until 8 p.m.<\/p>\n
In Philadelphia, 94% of flights, 326 flights, were canceled. Ninety-one percent of flights, 433 flights, were canceled at LaGuardia Airport in New York. New York\u2019s John F. Kennedy International Airport had 460 flights canceled, about 79% of flights, according to FlightAware. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport said on its website that all airlines had canceled departing flights for the day, about 420 flights. Significant disruptions also hit major airport hubs in Dallas-Fort Worth, Charlotte, Philadelphia and Atlanta, home to the nation\u2019s busiest airport.<\/p>\n
Allan Lengel of Detroit planned to return Monday from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where the temperature has been in the 80s. But he\u2019s staying until Wednesday after Delta suggested he change his reservation because of the weather impact on flights. \u201cCan\u2019t say I\u2019m disappointed. Frankly, I had been thinking of returning later because of frigid weather,\u201d Lengel, 71, said, referring to conditions in Michigan.<\/p>\n
American Airlines had canceled over 1,400 flights for Sunday, about 46% of its scheduled flights for Sunday, according to FlightAware. Delta Air Lines reported over 1,300 cancellations and Southwest Airlines reported over 1,260 cancellations for the day, while United Airlines had about 900. JetBlue had more than 570 canceled flights, accounting for roughly 71% of its schedule for the day.<\/p>\n
Vikrant Vaze, a Dartmouth professor specializing in commercial aviation logistics, said recovery from the storm cancellations and delays will take days if not longer. And even for travelers who aren\u2019t in areas that were directly affected by weather, cascading delays could still affect their travel plans. \u201cBecause there are so many different airlines involved, I think it\u2019s going to come down heavily to the individual airline\u2019s network structure, the extent of hit that each of them has had, and just the intrinsic capacity of the airlines to handle these massive disruptions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re already at the airport, get in line to speak to a customer service representative. If you\u2019re still at home or at your hotel, call or go online to connect to your airline\u2019s reservations staff. Either way, it helps to also research alternate flights while you wait to talk to an agent. Most airlines will rebook you on a later flight for no additional charge, but it depends on the availability of open seats.<\/p>\n
You can, but airlines aren\u2019t required to put you on another carrier\u2019s flight. Some airlines, including most of the biggest carriers, say they can put you on a partner airline, but even then, it can be a hit or miss.<\/p>\n
If your flight was canceled and you no longer want to take the trip, or you\u2019ve found another way to get to your destination, the airline is legally required to refund your money \u2014 even if you bought a non-refundable ticket. It doesn\u2019t matter why the flight was canceled. The airline might offer you a travel credit, but you are entitled to a full refund. You are also entitled to a refund of any bag fees, seat upgrades or other extras that you didn\u2019t get to use.<\/p>\n
The massive winter storm that swept across the US caused significant disruptions to air travel, with over 10,800 flights canceled on Sunday. The storm affected major airport hubs and caused widespread cancellations and delays. Travelers are advised to check with their airlines for updates and to research alternate flights. Recovery from the storm is expected to take days, and travelers should be prepared for cascading delays.<\/p>\n
Q: What should I do if my flight was canceled?
\nA: If you\u2019re already at the airport, get in line to speak to a customer service representative. If you\u2019re still at home or at your hotel, call or go online to connect to your airline\u2019s reservations staff.
\nQ: Can I get booked on another airline?
\nA: You can, but airlines aren\u2019t required to put you on another carrier\u2019s flight. Some airlines, including most of the biggest carriers, say they can put you on a partner airline, but even then, it can be a hit or miss.
\nQ: Am I owed a refund if my flight was canceled?
\nA: Yes, if your flight was canceled and you no longer want to take the trip, or you\u2019ve found another way to get to your destination, the airline is legally required to refund your money \u2014 even if you bought a non-refundable ticket.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Massive Winter Storm Disrupts US Travel Introduction to the Storm A massive winter storm made for a brutal travel day Sunday, with widespread cancellations and delays at some of the nation\u2019s busiest airports. Widespread snow, sleet and freezing rain threatened nearly 180 million people \u2014 more than half the U.S. population \u2014 in a path […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":24820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24818","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-weather"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.sun-sentinel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Winter_Weather_Philadelphia_87342-3.jpg?w=1400px&strip=all&w=1400&resize=1400,933&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24818"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24818"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24821,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24818\/revisions\/24821"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}