US airlines have been seized by the most widespread operational disruptions since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic as much of the country has been pummelled by a punishing winter storm.
Thousands of flights have been cancelled over the weekend as a result of heavy snow, freezing rain and extremely low temperatures, with 25 January representing the day with the highest number of cancellations since 30 March 2020. Nearly 20 US states and Washington, DC have declared emergencies in response to winter storm Fern.
On 25 January, about 8,900 US flights were cancelled – or 38% of the country’s total – as of 15:30 on the East Coast, according to operational data tracked by aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Roughly one-third of international flights to the USA have been cancelled.
The pandemic-era peak of flight cancellations came on 30 March 2020, when 12,140 flights were cancelled across the USA out of a total of 22,750 flights.
“Sunday… is the highest day for cancellations since the pandemic,” Cirium says.
Near-whiteout conditions are being reported at a host of airports on the East Coast of the USA, with operations in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, coming to a near-standstill.
About 95% of flights out of Philadelphia International airport were cancelled on 25 January as crews worked overtime to clear the runway and de-ice aircraft. The airport said on X that it had cut its number of security checkpoints in half as the US Transportation Security Adminstration expected drastically less passenger traffic.
Airports in Atlanta, Charlotte and as far south as Florida are also experiencing major disruptions.
”As a precaution due to the winter storm, most airlines have canceled flights scheduled for [25 January] from Philadelphia International airport,” it says.
The most-affected airline include JetBlue Airways, which has suffered the nearly 500 flights cancellations, or a staggering 75% of its total for 25 January. The carrier’s schedule shows extensive disruptions snowballing into 26 January, as well.
American Airlines and Delta Air Lines have also been hit hard, cancelling 57% and 47% of their flight schedules, respectively – representing a combined total of more than 5,000 flights.
United Airlines has not been spared, as Cirium data show it has cancelled 40% of its flights on 25 January.
Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines, with their heavy network exposure to the West Coast, are among the least-affected carriers.
The widespread disruptions recall the operational meltdown of December 2022, which saw Southwest Airlines completely unravel, cancelling some 17,000 flights during the peak of winter holiday travel.
The winter storm also represents a rough kick-off for 2026 for US carriers – several of which had shared sunny forecasts for travel demand during recent earnings calls.