East Coast airports, Amtrak resume limited service after blizzard

NEW YORK (AP) – Airlines canceled around 1,600 flights Monday, and another 1,200 experienced delays, in the aftermath of a massive weekend blizzard that slammed into the eastern USA, wreaking havoc on travel in the nation’s busiest cities.

People walk the terminal at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport, Monday, Jan. 25, 2016.

Nearly unreal is the message by Orlando International Airport canceling more than 120 flights on Sunday and officials urged travelers to avoid heading to the areas hit by the severe winter weather. With 3,100 flights failing to take off Friday and 4,511 being grounded on Saturday, the total of flights grounded was 11,605 for the four-day period. Those cancellationscentre on Philadelphia, Washington and New York City. New York-JFK canceled 772 departing flights and 708 incoming flights on Saturday and Sunday. In Washington DC, all flights remained cancelled over the weekend. Flight Aware.com says some airlines have already canceled flights for Tuesday.

Virgin Atlantic was able to resume flights to both NY and Newark from Sunday afternoon. Cancelations have centered on Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, Philadelphia, Washington and NY, with airlines essentially shutting down all flights into those cities.

Airlines have been forced to cancel more than 10,000 flights since Friday due to the impact of Jonas.

British Airways said it was planning to operate its normal flight schedule to the United States east coast on Monday.