More than 12,500 US flights were delayed or canceled on Monday during a series of storms affecting several major airports along the East Coast and other locations.
Due to the risks of strong winds and severe storms, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered delays at the three airports in the New York region – LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark in New Jersey – as well as at Washington’s Reagan National Airport, Orlando, Charlotte and Atlanta airports, and Houston’s Bush Airport.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated that the storm was impacting flights nationwide. A major winter storm was also disrupting flights in the Midwest and Great Lakes states.
Earlier, the FAA had imposed ground stops at Reagan National, Chicago O’Hare, and Charlotte before lifting them. Ground stops remained in place at Houston Bush and Baltimore Washington International airports.
FlightAware, a flight tracking site, reported that more than 8,500 US flights were delayed and 4,000 were canceled by 4:00 PM EDT (8:00 PM GMT).
American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Delta Air Lines all delayed or canceled 45% of their flights, according to FlightAware, while United Airlines had 36% of flights delayed or canceled.
Approximately 57% of flights in Atlanta were canceled or delayed, 51% in Chicago O’Hare, and 57% in LaGuardia.
The US government ordered federal employees in the Washington, D.C. region to leave their offices before 2:00 PM (6:00 PM GMT) due to weather risks.
