NYC airports cancel, delay hundreds of flights during third day of storms

For the third consecutive day, New York City’s three major airport hubs are experiencing the nation’s highest numbers of flight cancellations and delays, according to FlightAware data.

As of Tuesday morning, Newark Liberty experienced more than 300 cancellations and 96 delays; LaGuardia had more than 120 cancellations and 67 delays; and JFK had more than 60 cancellations and 171 delays, based on FlightAware statistics. Those numbers have continued to climb in recent days.

Newark Liberty, LaGuardia, and JFK were hampered by local thunderstorms Monday and the National Weather Service said another day of rain and storms could be expected Tuesday, although not as severe.

United currently ranks highest on FlightAware for cancellations and delays nationally. A spokesperson said the thunderstorms have made airline travel "very challenging" over the past three days.

The Federal Aviation Administration said flights into LaGuardia were delayed by an hour, on average.

Data from the US Department of Transportation ranks LaGuardia and Newark Liberty as one of the lowest ranking ports in on-time arrivals and departures.

In 2020, Newark ranked lowest in a list of 30 major US airports and LaGuardia at the third lowest.

Newark and LaGuardia also ranked in the bottom five of major U.S. airports for on-time departures in 2020, based on the same US Department of Transportation statistics.

Yet the issues of flight delays and cancellations have been a national problem this past week. On Monday alone, there were more than 2,200 canceled flights and more than 8,700 delayed flights across the US, according to FlightAware data, a higher than normal amount.

At Seattle Tacoma International Airport, travelers have been stranded overnight trying to get home to New York area airports. On Tuesday morning, security lines extended out to parking garages outside the terminal.

More passengers voiced their frustrations via Twitter on Tuesday after experiencing “purgatory.”

John Davidson, who is currently stuck in Newark, said that after two days of delays, “we can’t get out.”

Another user said that United Airlines has “held us hostage for over 24 hours.”

Joe Solano, told Gothamist via Twitter on Monday that his father died and he was trying to get to family in New Orleans, but dealt with multiple delays and cancellations.

Even Walt Nauta, a former aide to Donald Trump who was due to be arraigned in Miami on Tuesday on classified document charges alongside the former president, had to reschedule because he couldn't catch a flight from Newark.

According to Nauta’s defense attorney, he spent eight hours at the airport and three hours on the tarmac.

Catalina Gonella contributed reporting from Seattle.

This story has been updated with additional information.