Winter Storm Grayson Causes Massive Flight Cancellations

U.S. airlines are proactively canceling thousands of Thursday flights and offering travel waivers as they prepare for a winter storm that’s expected to batter the Northeast region and disrupt flights throughout the day.

The majority of the cancellations are concentrated at Northeast airports including Boston’s Logan International Airport — where at least two-thirds of flights have already been canceled — and the New York area’s LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark airports.

The winter storm is expected to bring freezing temperatures, strong winds and, in some places, a mix of snow and ice from New England down to Georgia.

Airlines including American, Southwest, Delta, United and JetBlue have issued travel waivers for more than a dozen East Coast destinations that allow passengers with travel planned for Jan. 4 and 5 to modify their itineraries without incurring change fees.

In total, about 2,700 flights had been canceled for Thursday due to the winter storm, according to a 5:30 p.m. Wednesday update from flight tracking service FlightAware. That number will likely grow as the storm continues to develop.

American Airlines spokesman Ross Feinstein said the carrier would be moving its aircraft out of Boston Logan Airport on Wednesday night in anticipation of the storm, with all Thursday departures at the airport canceled. Depending on how the storm progresses, inbound flights could start late Thursday with more service restarting Friday, Feinstein said.

The Fort Worth-based carrier has also canceled all flights on regional carriers and air shuttle operations at LaGuardia Airport for Thursday, he said. In total, 267 American Airlines flights for Thursday had been canceled as of 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to FlightAware.

Southwest Airlines had canceled 30 flights for Wednesday and another 300 for Thursday due to the storm.

Source: The Dallas Morning News