Nearly 5,000 flights were canceled Monday as a powerful snowstorm brought blizzard conditions to the Northeast, crippling travel and sending airline stocks into decline.
As of midmorning, 4,897 flights—19% of all scheduled departures—had been canceled across the United States, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. The storm, described as a bomb cyclone by AccuWeather, is producing blizzard conditions from Delaware through southern New England. Nearly all flights out of New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Boston Logan International Airport were grounded. Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and Philadelphia International Airport saw approximately 90% of their flights canceled, while New York’s LaGuardia Airport reported a 96% cancellation rate.
The disruptions sent shockwaves through the airline industry, with shares of major carriers falling sharply in Monday trading. American Airlines (AAL) and Delta Air Lines (DAL) both dropped more than 4%, while Southwest Airlines (LUV) and JetBlue Airways (JBLU) experienced declines exceeding 3%.
The Federal Aviation Administration reported ground stops at 13 airports throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. More than 5,600 flights were canceled on Monday alone, building on over 3,400 cancellations on Sunday. FlightAware data indicates over 1,700 U.S. Flights are currently canceled for Tuesday, as airlines attempt to prepare for a potential resumption of service.
Snowfall totals are exceeding expectations in several areas. Babylon, New York, has recorded over 29 inches of snow, and Freehold, New Jersey, has seen more than 26 inches. Central Park in New York City has accumulated over 19 inches, placing this storm among the city’s top ten largest snowfalls since records began in 1869.
The storm’s impact extends beyond air travel, with more than half a million power outages reported across the East Coast. Massachusetts is particularly affected, with over 289,000 outages reported as of midday Monday. New Jersey is experiencing over 141,000 outages, while Delaware and Rhode Island are reporting tens of thousands of customers without power.
Travel bans have been issued across multiple states, and more than 40 million people are under blizzard warnings along a 700-mile stretch of the East Coast from Maryland to Maine. Airlines began preemptively canceling flights as early as Saturday in anticipation of the severe weather.
