Thousands of air travelers across the United States are facing unexpected overnight stays, missed connections, and hours-long lines after a fresh wave of cancellations and delays swept through major hubs on February 11, 2026. From Los Angeles and New York to Chicago, Seattle, Las Vegas, and Boston, carriers including Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Air France, Spirit Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and JetBlue have all reported significant operational disruptions. While the raw number of canceled flights is modest compared with the largest winter meltdowns, the clustering of more than 40 cancellations and well over a thousand delays on core business and leisure routes has left many passengers stranded and searching for alternatives.
A New Day of Disruptions Across Major US Hubs
On February 11, data from aviation and industry trackers indicated another difficult day for US aviation, with dozens of flights canceled and over a thousand delayed across the network. A large share of the disruption was concentrated at high-traffic airports in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, and other coastal and Midwestern hubs. United, Southwest, Alaska, Delta, JetBlue, Spirit, and several regional partners all reported cancellations, while many more flights left hours behind schedule.
Although not a full-scale meltdown, the pattern is familiar. Flights are axed most heavily on congested trunk routes connecting coastal cities to major interior hubs. Services between New York and Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle, and Las Vegas and key East Coast cities were among those affected. At some airports, the number of delayed flights far outstripped outright cancellations, meaning passengers often spent the day in limbo, watching departure boards shift from one projected departure time to another.
For travelers, the headline figure of more than 40 cancellations barely captures the lived reality. A single canceled departure can strand hundreds of passengers. When cancellations are combined with rolling delays across airlines and alliances, the disruption magnifies. Tight connections are missed, rebooked flights are oversold, and hotel rooms near the airport quickly disappear. That is the picture emerging from terminals in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and beyond as this latest wave of disruption unfolds.
Why Flights Are Being Canceled and Delayed
The latest round of cancellations is occurring against a backdrop of an exceptionally challenging winter for US aviation. A powerful late January winter storm, spanning from the Southwest to New England between January 23 and January 27, triggered more than ten thousand cancellations nationwide and snarled airport operations for days. Even as skies cleared, airlines and airports have struggled to fully stabilize their schedules, especially at busy hubs where aircraft and crews were left badly out of position.
Winter weather remains a major factor. Icy conditions and low visibility continue to affect operations in the Northeast and Midwest, including around New York and Chicago. In the West, winter systems brushing the Pacific Coast and the Intermountain West are still disrupting traffic into and out of Los Angeles, Seattle, and Las Vegas. The combination has left airlines operating long, fragile chains of rotations that can be broken by a single ground stop or deicing backlog.
Operational stressors are also in play. Airlines are managing tight crew rosters in the peak of winter sick season, with reserve levels thinner than they were before the pandemic. Even a modest increase in weather-related delays can quickly collide with duty-time limits for pilots and cabin crew, forcing last-minute cancellations. On top of that, lingering maintenance backlogs and high utilization of aircraft put more pressure on fleets. The result is a system that has little room to absorb disruption, particularly when multiple major hubs are affected at once.
Airlines Under Pressure: Delta, United, Southwest, Air France, Spirit, and More
The brunt of the disruption is being borne by the largest network carriers and their regional affiliates. Delta, United, and Southwest, which together operate thousands of daily flights across North America, have each reported cancellations and extensive delays through their hubs in Los Angeles, Chicago, and key East Coast airports. Delta passengers connecting through Los Angeles and New York have seen some transcontinental and Midwest-bound flights canceled outright, while United travelers at Chicago O Hare and Newark face rolling delays, missed connections, and last-minute rebookings.
Low cost and leisure-focused airlines are also caught in the turbulence. Spirit Airlines, which operates a dense web of point-to-point services into Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and major East Coast vacation markets, has canceled and delayed multiple departures, affecting travelers en route to and from Nevada and Florida. JetBlue and Alaska Airlines, both with strong coastal footprints, report disruptions that ripple along popular routes linking Boston, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
International carriers are not immune. Air France and other foreign airlines serving US gateways rely on tight turnarounds and coordinated schedules to connect North American passengers with long haul services to Europe and beyond. When inbound flights to hubs like New York or Los Angeles arrive late or face ground delays, outbound transatlantic departures may depart late or, in some cases, be canceled. This leaves travelers not only stranded in US airports but also disconnected from onward connections in Paris, London, Amsterdam, and other European hubs.
Key Routes and Airports Bearing the Brunt
While disruptions are being logged across dozens of airports, certain hubs and corridors are shouldering much of the impact. In the West, Los Angeles International and Seattle Tacoma have seen a mix of cancellations and lengthy delays, particularly on routes north along the Pacific Coast and east toward Chicago and Denver. Las Vegas, an important leisure and convention gateway, has endured back to back weather related disruptions this winter, with further delays and cancellations expected as additional winter systems track across the Mountain West and Midwest.
In the Midwest and East, Chicago O Hare and New York area airports are especially strained. Cancellations and long departure queues have affected flights between Chicago and New York, Chicago and Boston, and Chicago and West Coast cities like Los Angeles and Seattle. These routes are vital arteries for both business and leisure travel, so disruptions quickly cascade outward, affecting connections to smaller markets from Buffalo and Akron to Anchorage and Miami.
Beyond the mainline hubs, regional airports are feeling the knock on effects. When hub flights are canceled, spokes lose their only connection of the day or see hours long delays. Travelers departing smaller markets often face the most challenging decisions, such as whether to wait for a late night rebooked departure or pay out of pocket for a hotel and hope for morning availability. The geography of the current disruption therefore reaches far beyond headline cities, touching communities nationwide.
Passengers Left Stranded: Scenes from Terminals
Inside terminals from Los Angeles to New York, the story of this disruption is written on departure boards and in the faces of travelers. Gates quickly fill with passengers crowding around podiums, hoping for updates or spare seats on the next available departure. Families with children sit on the floor near outlets, attempting to recharge phones and tablets while waiting out yet another delay announcement. Business travelers tap out emails to colleagues explaining that meetings will have to be rescheduled.
At major hubs, rebooking lines at customer service desks can stretch for dozens of meters, with wait times extending well beyond an hour during peak disruption. Even as airlines deploy more staff to assist, the volume of itinerary changes, missed connections, and voucher requests can overwhelm available resources. Some travelers are offered same day alternatives via different hubs, while others are placed on standby lists that may or may not clear before the last departure of the night.
Overnight, the problem changes shape. Hotels near airports in cities like Chicago, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles quickly sell out, especially when a burst of cancellations hits late in the day. Passengers who are ineligible for airline paid accommodation or who cannot secure a room may end up spending the night in the terminal, resting on benches or in designated rest areas. For many, the immediate challenge is not just getting rebooked, but handling the basic logistics of food, sleep, and communication in an unfamiliar airport environment.
What Stranded Travelers Can Do Right Now
For those caught up in the current wave of cancellations and delays, swift, informed action can make a significant difference. The most important step is to monitor flight status directly through the airline s official app or website, refreshing regularly. Gate displays and public address announcements sometimes lag behind digital updates, especially when schedules are being rapidly reconfigured behind the scenes. Checking status before leaving for the airport can also prevent unnecessary trips if a flight is canceled well in advance.
Passengers whose flights have been canceled should rebook as quickly as possible, ideally using the airline app or website to avoid long queues at the airport. Many carriers now allow free same day changes during weather related disruptions, and they may also temporarily relax change fees or fare difference rules on specified dates. If online tools fail or show no options, calling the airline while you stand in line at the airport can create a second path to a solution. Social media support channels may also be able to assist, although response times vary.
Travelers should document everything. Screenshots of cancellation notices, boarding passes, and alternative options offered can be useful later if seeking reimbursement for hotels, meals, or ground transport. Although US regulations do not mandate compensation for weather related disruptions, airlines often provide meal vouchers, hotel discounts, or other goodwill gestures in severe cases. International itineraries that fall under European Union rules may provide additional passenger rights on segments operated by EU carriers such as Air France, particularly in cases where the cause is within the airline s control.
How This Fits Into a Larger Pattern of Winter Travel Chaos
The current day s disruptions are part of a broader pattern of winter volatility. The late January storm that swept across much of the United States forced airlines to cancel thousands of flights over several days and left a deep operational imprint on route networks. Recovery has been slow, especially at hubs that were hardest hit by snow and ice. As new weather systems arrive, even if they are less intense, they collide with an already fragile schedule and revive the risk of rolling cancellations.
Recent data and analysis indicate that while overall cancellation rates in the United States have improved from the worst post pandemic years, extreme weather episodes can still push the system to its limits. High demand, packed flight loads, and limited spare capacity mean airlines have less flexibility to reposition aircraft or add extra sections when events like large winter storms or airspace restrictions occur. In this environment, a day with a few dozen cancellations and more than a thousand delays can easily translate into thousands of disrupted passenger journeys.
For travelers, this underscores the need to treat winter as a higher risk season for flight changes, particularly on routes that connect through vulnerable hubs or cross weather prone regions. Building longer connection times, avoiding the last flight of the day when possible, and maintaining flexible hotel and ground transport bookings can all help reduce the impact of sudden schedule shifts. While no strategy can fully eliminate risk, anticipating the possibility of disruption allows passengers to respond more effectively when cancellations appear.
Looking Ahead: What Travelers Should Expect Next
In the near term, conditions remain fluid. Forecasts point to lingering winter weather in parts of the Midwest and Northeast, with additional systems likely to move across the country through mid February. That means major hubs such as Chicago, New York, Boston, and possibly Seattle and Denver may continue to see periodic ground delays, deicing bottlenecks, and capacity reductions. Even when skies are clear, residual crew and aircraft imbalances can take several days to work out of the system.
Airlines are attempting to bolster resilience by adjusting schedules, building in more buffer time between flights, and preemptively trimming some frequencies when severe weather is forecast. These measures can reduce the risk of last second cancellations on the day of travel, but they also mean that in some markets capacity may remain tighter than usual for parts of the season. Leisure travelers heading to or from Las Vegas, Florida, or mountain destinations, and business travelers relying on morning and evening shuttles between major cities, should all be prepared for potential adjustments.
For now, the key message for passengers is to stay informed, stay flexible, and recognize that even a headline figure of around 40 cancellations can reverberate through the network in outsized ways. With Delta, United, Southwest, Air France, Spirit, and other carriers all touched by disruption on the same day, there are fewer easy workarounds than when problems are confined to a single airline. As winter continues, smart planning and real time vigilance will be the traveler s best tools for navigating an unsettled sky.