Airline stocks drop due to winter storm Stella

United States airlines have already cancelled more than 6000 flights Monday and Tuesday as a late-winter storm is expected to dump enough snow to disrupt travel in the Northeast.

Major U.S. carriers scrapped all or most of their flights at the three New York-area airports, LaGuardia Airport, John F. Kennedy International and Newark Liberty International, in preparation for the storm.

At Delta (DAL), “we departed a couple of flights {from LaGuardia and Newark} early this morning”, spokesman Michael Thomas said shortly before noon.

At Syracuse’s Hancock International Airport, 31 departing flights and 32 arrivals were canceled. Similar disruptions affected airports in Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington Dulles, and Washington Reagan National. Another update is expected at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday’s winter weather brought about 247 cancellations and 82 delays at OIA. Monday, a late afternoon flight to Chicago and red-eye flights to Boston and JFK were cancelled.

A major nor’easter is to blame, with the storm targeted to hit all throughout the Northeast.

Many airlines are waiving fees to allow travelers to change flights for later in the week. JetBlue trails American at the third most, at 616.

A strike by airport security workers in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, paralyzed airline traffic off the island Wednesday morning.

In the NY area, the blizzard was less severe than forecasted, but by early morning the snowfall had picked up.

Those who were hoping for more snow this winter definitely got what they wanted with Stella.

In South Florida, airline and airport personnel remained cautious in giving the all-clear to flights, but expressed reason for optimism.