New York, NY – Another round of weather-related flight cancellations hit the New York City region this week as a blustery Winter storm blew through on the heels of Hurricane Sandy. More than 1,700 flights scheduled for November 7 and 8 were cancelled due to the Nor’easter that brought stiff winds, rain and snow to the Northeast, including area still cleaning up from Sandy’s unwelcome visit at the end of October.
The National Weather Service said the storm was producing snow and gusty winds along the New Jersey coast and would keep things cold and wet in New England well into Thursday.
Sandy caused approximately 20,000 cancellations. Airline analysts said the latest round of groundings illustrated the growing willingness of carriers to keep their planes on the ground during potentially dicey weather.
“Rather than wait until the last minute and have all kinds of chaos at the airports, you cancel the flights, move your planes out of the way and rebook people ahead of time in a more relaxed way,” Michael Derchin of CRT Capital Group told Bloomberg.
Most airlines waived their rebooking fees for passengers whose trips to trade shows and other destinations were delayed.
On a positive note, AMTRAK said it was reopening three train tunnels serving Manhattan’s Penn Station that had been flooded during Sandy by the end of the week.
