Naureen S. Malik and John Gittelsohn
4 min read
(Bloomberg) -- Major storms on both US coasts and into the upper Midwest are disrupting travel plans during the busy post-holiday period when many Americans are making their way back home.
More than 1,600 flights across the US had been canceled as of Friday afternoon, according to the FlightAware website. JetBlue Airways Corp. was the carrier with the most cancellations on Friday, with more than 200, according to FlightAware. That was followed by Delta Air Lines Inc.
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New York City’s three major airports – LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark — were hit hard by the disruptions, with as much as 9 inches (23 centimeters) of snow forecast for the areas. Detroit, Philadelphia and Boston airports also saw cancellations and delays. Heavy rains, mudslides and flooding prompted road closures in California, while the Great Lakes region faces accumulating ice.
The disruptions are striking at one of the busiest travel times of the year. A record number of Americans were projected to venture at least 50 miles from home during the Dec. 20 - Jan. 1 period, the American Automobile Association forecast, up about 2% from last year.
What’s making the flooding, blizzards, snow and ice especially dangerous is that more travelers were expected to choose roads over flights this year. About 109.5 million Americans were projected to drive for their holiday plans this year, according to the AAA outlook. Some 8 million were forecast to fly.
JetBlue said in an emailed statement it canceled about 350 flights between Friday and Saturday, primarily in the Northeast. “We are working to assist affected customers with rescheduling,” the company said.
United Airlines Holdings Inc. said it published “a weather waiver to give maximum flexibility to customers.” It also reduced its schedule in advance to minimize disruption once the storm arrives, a company representative said in an email. Southwest Airlines Co. said it made some schedule adjustments in the Northeast, primarily at New York’s LaGuardia airport and in Baltimore.
The extreme weather comes amid the return of La Niña, the pattern marked by a cooling of Pacific waters that can disrupt economies and trigger disasters worldwide.
“La Niña winters are notorious for their volatility, and we are certainly getting a healthy serving of that this holiday season,” said Matt Rogers, president of the Commodity Weather Group. “The weather models have been struggling to keep up with all the moving parts and variations in the forecast.”