Travelers are hoping for a calmer day Monday after severe storms wreaked havoc on Sunday flight schedules.
As rain washed over the East Coast, causing flash floods in some areas, more than 2,000 flights were canceled and more than 8,000 were delayed Sunday, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. The New York-area airports led in total cancellations and delays.
United Airlines and JetBlue were some of the major airlines that experienced the most disruptions. United reported 871 delays and 254 cancellations; JetBlue had 430 delays and 223 cancellations Sunday.
However, as of Monday morning, disruptions were moderating.
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The U.S. has had more than 1,600 delays and 466 cancellations as of Monday morning, according to FlightAware. While United and JetBlue still experienced the most delays and cancellations among the major U.S. carriers, their numbers had dropped considerably. As of 11 a.m. EDT on Monday morning, United reported 170 delays and 75 cancellations while JetBlue reported 209 delays and 56 cancellations.
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Staffing shortages within the Federal Aviation Administration and United cascaded into a week rife with travel disruptions ahead of July 4. However, this set of delays and cancellations seemed to be tied to a potent weather system that spawned a line of storms that stretched from New England to the Southeast, blocking flight paths from the major East Coast airports.
Parts of the Northeast, including New York, are still on flood watch as of Monday morning. New York’s Hudson Valley region was hit particularly hard by the storms, bearing up to 8 inches of rain in certain areas, according to the National Weather Service. The flooding turned deadly, with Orange County, New York, reporting at least one death, according to The New York Times.
The severe weather also disrupted much of Amtrak’s operations in New York. Amtrak canceled its Adirondack and Maple Leaf lines — both routes traverse heavily through the Hudson Valley region. Amtrak also curtailed its Ethan Allen and Empire routes, having them start or end in Albany, New York, as the region still grappled with floods.
Several airlines — including United, American, Southwest and JetBlue — also offered travel waivers to passengers flying out of airports affected by the storms.
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