The air travel problem was worse on Friday than Thursday.
Airlines had canceled more than 3,100 flights as of 7 a.m. ET, according to tracking service FlightAware.
The number of cancellations already surpassed the 2,681 canceled flights on Thursday. Nearly 10,400 flights were delayed Thursday, FlightAware said.
As the storm moved eastward, it was increasingly affecting major East Coast airports. New York’s LaGuardia Airport has led the country in the number of outbound flight cancellations — one in three flights won’t take off, according to FlightAware data.
The FAA noted earlier Friday that it may have to stop or limit traffic at Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington area airports.
FlightAware data shows more than 100 cancellations at six airports: LaGuardia, Seattle-Tacoma, Detroit, Boston and Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway.
The growing number of canceled flights has made it harder for passengers to race against time and weather to rebook and arrive on time for Christmas. Flights this year were already more crowded than ever — even before the storm disrupted travel plans.
“A lot of people probably don’t realize that the number of flights in the air is actually down 15 or 20 percent,” Scott Case of Scott Cheap Flights told CNN. “The planes that are actually flying today are fuller than they were before the pandemic. That’s why if you find out your flight is canceled or delayed, there aren’t as many empty seats to choose from.”