Airlines have canceled more than 1,400 flights in preparation for the winter storm that is barreling toward the Northeast and could bring up to two feet of snow to parts of the Northeast Friday and Saturday.
"We are seeing the airlines start their pre-emptive storm related cancellations this afternoon," said Mark Duell, vice president of operations at FlightAware to Today in the Sky. "We expect all the majors to have announced a significant chunk by this evening."
JetBlue is reporting that they have canceled 640 flights so far as of Thursday afternoon.
"We're keeping a close eye on the impending winter storm expected to impact the Northeast and New England regions tomorrow and are planning our operations accordingly," JetBlue spokeswoman Mateo Lleras wrote in an e-mail to Today in the Sky as reported by USA Today. "To date, we've proactively cancelled 640 flights in this area and will continue to monitor and adjust our operations as needed."
FlightAware also reports that Delta has canceled 163 flights traveling along mainline routes, but does not include other cancellations that have been made on Delta's regional affiliates.
USA Today is reporting that Delta seems to have canceled all of the Delta Shuttle flights scheduled to land in LaGuardia post noon (EST) on Friday.
Newark, Boston, New York LaGuardia, New York JFK, Chicago O'Hare, Philadelphia, Washington Reagan National and Hartford airports are all reporting delays---according to FlightAware.
There are even reported cancellations going on outside of the Northeast region, including 50 flights for Friday at Houston Bush Intercontinental airport---the hub for United Airlines.
But the good news is that most airlines are offering flexible rebooking policies, including JetBlue that is waiving fees because of the storm.
Check with your carrier for specific policies regarding rebooking policies.