Airlines in the US have cancelled thousands of flights to and from airports in the country’s East Coast this weekend, as Winter Storm Hernando is expected to hit the region, with one to two feet of snow. The storm is expected to continue throughout Monday, and operations are expected to return to normal sometime on Tuesday.

While airlines have waived fees for ticket cancellations and changes, there will be a widespread disruption in the coming days caused by the storm, which will take several days to recover from.

Over 2,700 Flights Cancelled Today

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At the time of writing on Sunday, February 22, data from FlightAware indicates that a total of 2,733 flights have been cancelled to, from, and within the US. In terms of the number of flights cancelled, the most impacted airport is (naturally) the busiest in the East Coast region, New York JFK Airport, with data showing a total of 651 flights to and from the airport. Reports by CNBC indicate that, thus far, airlines have cancelled over 5,000 flights through Monday as Storm Hernando is set to impact the East Coast region, which encompasses several major hubs for US carriers.

With forecasts indicating snowfall of over two feet, low visibility, and wind gusts exceeding speeds of 40 miles per hour, the weather conditions are not ideal for reliable, regular flight operations, thus the need for service reductions. Other major airports affected (based on today’s cancellation data) include LaGuardia Airport (LGA) with 523 cancellations, Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) with 376 cancelled flights, Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) with 371 cancellations, and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) with 256 services cancelled.

While these five airports see the highest number of flight cancellations, they also see minimal flight delays, which is a key advantage of reducing services during such storms, because this ensures the remaining services are able to perform on time with minimal disruption or complications.

Much Higher Cancellations On Monday

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Based on the cancellation data, it appears that there is a higher number of service cancellations on Monday, February 23, which records over 3,500 flight cancellations. This marks an approximate increase of 29.6% increase in cancellation numbers compared to today (February 22). However, data indicate that LGA is set to see the largest number of flights cancelled.

As per tomorrow’s data, these are the five airports with the most number of cancellations to and from the airport:

Data indicate that, apart from Newark, the remaining four airports have over half their departures and arrivals cancelled, with LGA and BOS expecting cancellations as high as over 80% of their departure schedule. This goes to show the scale of disruption these airports are facing, while also providing an indication of the efforts the airlines will have to take to restore services and handle the backlog of passengers.

Considering some of these airports are major hubs for airlines, some carriers will be more impacted than others, depending on their presence and the complexity of their operations on the East Coast.

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Which Airlines Would Be Affected?

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It is worth noting that all four of the major US carriers – United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines, all have a significant presence in the East Coast, which would mean that a weather-related disruption in the region will see these carriers impacted the most.

Sunday’s (today) cancellation data shows that the operators with the largest number of cancellations were Republic Airways (532), JetBlue (423), American Airlines (329), Delta Air Lines (300), and Southwest (239). Two key points to note are that United Airlines comes in at number six, with 165 cancellations, and that Republic is a regional operator who operate flights for United, Delta, and American, under their respective regional brands. This then suggests that United can be considered in fifth place for the most number of flights cancelled, and that the actual cancellation numbers for United, Delta, and American are a lot higher.

As for tomorrow, the same five airline brands take the top five spots in the following order: JetBlue (687), American (517), Delta (462), Southwest (192), and United (160). However, Republic Airways has cancelled 662 flights on behalf of United, Delta, and American, while Endeavor Air (Delta-owned regional subsidiary) has cancelled a further 301 services, indicating Delta will see the most number of flight cancellations tomorrow.