Heavy rain and wind on Tuesday night caused flights to be canceled and delayed at major airports around the United States, which messed with a lot of people’s travel plans. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that a few big airports, like John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, Newark Liberty in New Jersey, Baltimore/Washington International, Ronald Reagan Washington National, and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, might have to stop flying for a little while. These delays in operations were prompted by strong thunderstorms that hit most of the country, stopping aircraft and causing air traffic to back up in key places.
The difficulties happened at both Philadelphia International Airport and LaGuardia Airport in New York. There were long delays on the ground at both airports that were expected to last into Tuesday night. Flights at JFK and Newark were put on hold until at least 5:15 p.m. ET. Flights were canceled at airports in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., until 5:30 p.m. The FAA reported the delays kept occurred all night long. People who were leaving JFK had to wait more than two hours on average, and people who were departing LaGuardia had to wait around an hour and a half. People traveling from Newark were the most affected, with delays that lasted more than three hours on average.
Flights to Dallas/Fort Worth couldn’t leave until after 9 p.m. The FAA indicated that a lot of the delays and cancellations could linger until July 9, Wednesday. A major storm system knocked down thousands of flights throughout the East Coast just over a week ago, on June 30. This was the second big weather-related break in that time.
There were also thunderstorms at Denver International Airport, which caused several flights to be canceled. The FAA reported that Dulles International Airport in Virginia was now one of the airports where people had to wait a lengthy time. It was unlikely that flights will start up again before 5:30 p.m. ET. The U.S. has canceled over 1,100 flights by 5 p.m. Tuesday. More than 30 minutes of delays happened on several of the more than 26,000 flights. People were detained on runways or waiting at terminals with not much information at a number of airports.
As the delays stretched on, passengers were getting more and more angry. A tourist reported that they were stuck on a taxiway at LaGuardia after getting on a plane to Dallas. They then learned that there was a ground halt that might extend for another hour without any new information. The fear grew even more because some airlines weren’t very clear about what was going on.
Travel experts say that consumers who are affected should act right away if their flight is delayed or canceled. Jesse Neugarten, who established the Dollar Flight Club, said that people should check their airline’s app or website often because that’s where rebooking options usually show up first. You might be able to rebook immediately through the app in some cases without having to talk to an agent.
Neugarten said that if you can’t get through to the main U.S. customer care, you should call the same airline’s overseas support numbers, such as those in Canada or the UK. There are normally shorter wait times there, and agents may still be able to help you rebook. Acting quickly can make a great impact, especially when more and more people are looking for other flights.
Travelers could expect things to get worse in the coming few days, according to weather reports. AccuWeather reports that Texas could get more flash floods on Wednesday. This could make it hard to get around in places like Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio. In the meantime, states in the Mid-Atlantic, such Virginia, Georgia, and the Carolinas, are expected to see heavy thunderstorms. Heavy rain later in the week could make flights in the Northeast, which includes New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., a lot worse.
Travelers should be ready for anything this summer, when air travel is already hard, because of these ongoing weather problems.