Airlines cancel more than 14,000 weekend flights as massive winter storm sweeps across US

A flight information display shows flights canceled due to weather departing from New York’s LaGuardia Airport on January 25, 2026.

Charly Triballeau | Afp | Getty Images

Airlines canceled tens of thousands of flights in the United States this weekend as a massive winter storm swept across the country, bringing heavy snow, ice and sleet, followed by bitter cold.

More than 4,000 flights were canceled Saturday, according to FlightAware flight tracker. Most of Saturday’s cancellations were at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, with nearly 1,500 flights canceled, and Dallas Love Field, with 190 cancellations, the majority of each airport’s schedule.

More than 10,000 flights were canceled on Sunday, with nearly 6,000 trips delayed.

US President Donald Trump said Saturday evening he had approved emergency declarations for “historic winter storms” heading toward South Carolina and Virginia.

“We will continue to monitor and stay in contact with all states in the path of this storm,” he said in a statement. job on Social Truth.

As of 4:15 a.m. ET, more than 270,000 U.S. customers were without power, with the hardest-hit areas being Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana, according to PowerOutage.com.

The Department of Energy issued an emergency order Sunday authorizing grid operator PJM to “operate specific resources located in the PJM region” in an effort to help address extreme temperatures and storm destruction in the Mid-Atlantic.

“As Winter Storm Fern brings extremely cold and dangerous conditions to the Mid-Atlantic region, maintaining affordable, reliable and safe power to the PJM region is non-negotiable,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright.

Flight cancellationsAmerican airlinesbased in Fort Worth, Texas, had canceled 1,056 flights on Saturday, more than a third of its main schedule, and Southwest Airlines canceled 579 flights, or 20 percent, according to FlightAware.

A snow removal machine operates as a United Airlines Embraer 175 taxis for takeoff on the tarmac at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on January 25, 2026.

Charly Triballeau | Afp | Getty Images

Flight cancellations in the United States more than doubled to nearly 9,100 on Sunday, as the storm is expected to hit the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States. As of Saturday afternoon, most flights from Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina to Portland, Maine, were canceled. Major air hubs were affected as far away as Atlanta, where Delta Airlines is based.

Nearly 90% of Sunday flights were canceled at New York’s LaGuardia Airport and 96% at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. More than 70% of flights at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, which host more international flights, were also canceled Sunday.

Airlines routinely cancel flights before a major storm to prevent planes, passengers and crew from getting stranded, which can worsen disruptions after the severe weather leaves. January is a low season for travel in general, but the massive storm was expected to disrupt the travel of hundreds of thousands of people for days.

American, Delta, JetBlue AirwaysSouthwest Airlines, United Airlines and other U.S. carriers said they are waiving change and cancellation fees as well as fare differences to rebook for customers with tickets to and from more than 40 airports across the country. Exemptions include restrictive basic economy tickets.

American said it was repositioning its planes and increasing its workforce at major airports to help mitigate the impact of the storm and “set the stage for a rapid and safe recovery once conditions improve.”

The National Weather Service warns that the winter storm could affect hundreds of millions of people and is expected to “bring heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain from the Southern Rockies to New England through Monday.”

— CNBC’s April Roach contributed to this report.