Airlines cancel nearly 6300 flights due to blizzard

Airlines have canceled almost 7,000 flights so far this weekend and are starting to cut service on Monday, as driving snow and ice bring many East Coast airports to a standstill.

The bulk of Saturday’s 4,418 cancellations are at airports in the New York City and Washington metro areas, according to flight tracking service FlightAware. Coupled with the continued closure through the weekend of roads and public transportation in surrounding communities, these conditions make resumption of normal flight operations at the airports unlikely on Sunday.

Blizzard warnings remain in effect into Saturday night for more than 35 million people from northern Virginia to Cape Cod, including Washington D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City.

As a result, airlines such as Delta, United, Virgin America, JetBlue and American have offered passengers with tickets for travel to certain snow-affected airports the opportunity to change their flights schedules free of charge.

The largest airline serving Newark Liberty International Airport will start flying again Sunday afternoon, the company said.

More than 2,500 flights were canceled on Friday, and roughly the same number have been canceled for Saturday.

For those looking to cancel their trips, they need to wait until the airline officially calls off the flight. Friday saw 3,100 cancellations, most of which were made by airlines a day in advance. It also lets airlines restart the system quicker because they have planes and crews in place. The airline is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 192 countries via 28 member airlines. (Put those numbers in your phone now.) Finally, consider sending a tweet to the airline. The lines are shorter and these agents are sometimes able to find empty seats. Warning: Many of the rooms are nonrefundable when booked, so lock in only once you are stuck.

Furthermore, the blizzard has created a backup that has rippled across the nation, with Atlanta and Chicago each reporting more than 100 flight cancellations on Friday.