Newark Airport Sees Flight Cancellations: Winter Snowstorm Predicted

NEW YORK (AP) – Airlines canceled around 6,600 flights to, from or within the U.S. for Friday and Saturday, as a blizzard began covering much of the Eastern U.S.

As of early Friday afternoon, the only flights affected out of the airport in Hanover Township, Lehigh County, are to and from Charlotte, N.C. and Philadelphia. They will also receive another communication if their flight is cancelled.

The East Coast is on blizzard watch for the weekend, and most airlines are already preparing for travel disruptions. Customers with cancelled flights can request a refund or schedule their travel, American said.

Jeff Dutton, the Director of Public Affairs for Indianapolis International Airport, says they’re not expecting a lot of travelers to be stranded here since many have had the opportunity to make other arrangements.

Flight cancellations also hit Atlanta’s Hartfield-Jackson airport, though not as hard: 155 flights were reported canceled, there. A plane landing at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport slid off the runway amid slippery conditions Friday afternoon.

American reduced flights Friday evening in Philadelphia, and cancelled all flights on Saturday. As of 10 a.m., there were already 489 delayed flights in the US today, according to FlightAware.

JetBlue: The airline has issued a travel alert for 16 airports where passengers can change their flights without a fee or paying the ticket price difference. Our updated travel policy now covers 42 airports – including our CLT, DCA, JFK, LGA and PHL hubs – and allows customers whose travel plans are impacted to rebook without penalty. Operations are expected to resume on Saturday morning.

Jet Blue, Regionals, ViaAir, Air Canada, Lufthansa and Southwest Airlines have all canceled Friday Charlotte flights. We plan on resuming operations Sunday at all three New York-area airports.