With snowfall being predicted in feet, not inches, airlines have canceled hundreds of flights at major eastern U.S. airports in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. The National Weather Service says that snowfall totals will range from 18-28 inches in the nation's capital, northern Virginia, eastern West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland. This area encompasses Washington National Reagan Airport, Dulles International Airport, Baltimore/Washington International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport. Major hub operations for US Airways, Southwest Airlines and United are located here, and the ripple effect from so many cancellations is being felt across the country.
Forecasters say that the Philadelphia area may see as much a 12-15 inches of snow with the system, but thankfully the storm is heading more west to east and will only leave 4-6 inches in New York City. The impact at La Guardia Airport, JFK and Newark Liberty International Airport will be less than in the mid-Atlantic states to the south.
As usual, airlines have issued travel waivers for passengers scheduled to, through or from the hardest hit cities. The Twin Cities largest carrier with multiple flights daily to all of the affected airports is Delta Air Lines. Delta's waiver is for February 5-7 travel dates and allows tickets to be re-issued for origination not later than February 8. There are no penalties or fees with the re-scheduled flights. Areas included in the Delta waiver include the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York State, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
Travelers whose flights are canceled or severely delayed are also able to cancel their trip altogether and receive a full refund. An early afternoon check of Delta's flights from MSP to affected cities showed cancellation of all flights to Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia, with trips into the New York City-area airports operating as usual. This may change as the situation changes throughout the day.
If you have a trip planned Friday or Saturday from Minneapolis/St. Paul or any other airport to the eastern seaboard it is highly recommended that you check with your airline to see if it is operating or has possibly been canceled.
Comments (5)
Snow snow snow. Glad i'm not flying in that area today or tomorrow. It's no fun being stuck in an airport for hours and hours due to a canceled flight.
Glad I'm home where it's warm awaiting our next snow. What a winter! Lots of record-breaking weather.
Thanks for the heads up on the cancellation of hundreds of flights because of the snowfall in the east.
I think that only Ted is going to be enjoying all this snow. I hope you have a snow blowers. Great read.
Yeah, there you go, Ted!
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