Even if you could make it to the airport as winter storm Hernando blankets runways and aircraft, your flight probably wasn’t going anywhere.
A “misery map” from the aviation-tracking website Flightaware shows where disruptions are piling up fastest. So far, more than 9,000 flights have been canceled across the US since Sunday. More disruptions are expected on Tuesday.
Cirium data shows that of the about 25,000 scheduled US flights on Monday, roughly 20% aren’t taking off, compared with 1% on a typical day. It was about the same on Sunday.
The Northeast is bearing the brunt of the storm, with nearly every flight from Philadelphia to Boston canceled. More than half of the roughly 750 daily departures from Washington, DC-area airports have also been scrapped, mostly from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the closest to the city.
The misery map doesn’t currently show some smaller airports like Providence, Rhode Island, and Hartford, Connecticut, that have been similarly slammed by snow.
The disruptions — especially at busy hub airports — have caused a ripple effect across the national network, stranding travelers booked on subsequently canceled inbound planes far from home. This includes thousands of people on about 550 flights from abroad.
With only a handful of international flights per day, airlines may deploy additional planes to shuttle passengers back once the storm passes. Airlines made a similar call in January when people got stranded in the Caribbean amid a US raid on Venezuela.
Even after the snow lets up, it could take airlines days to get back on schedule.
Airport staff — many of whom may be stuck at home — may struggle to get to work quickly. Snow on the tarmacs, taxiways, and runways must be removed and full inspections completed before planes can safely land or take off. And aircraft must be de-iced and cleared of snow before each departure — processes that can take hours in heavy storms.
Travelers shouldn’t expect compensation for the chaos.
Airlines classify the snowstorm as a “force majeure” event — situations outside their control that force flight delays, cancellations, or diversions. Travelers may receive a voucher for meals or hotel accommodations as a gesture of goodwill, but it’s not required by federal law. Still, it doesn’t hurt to ask.
If you booked your flight with a travel credit card, such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve or the American Express Platinum, you may be able to recoup expenses through their dedicated reimbursement programs.
Travelers can get refunds for canceled flights (so long as they choose not to fly), and airlines are waiving change fees and fare differences as they suspend operations in certain airports. The changed flight must typically fall within a specific time window and be to and from the itinerary’s original airports.
It has been a hectic 24 hours for air travel.
About 40 Mexico‑bound flights were canceled or diverted on Sunday as carriers suspended operations to resort destinations amid cartel‑related unrest — adding to the logistical chaos already caused by the snowstorm.
A confusing TSA PreCheck policy — which ended in the lanes remaining open, even after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced they’d close amid the partial government shutdown — didn’t help.
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