Hundreds of air travelers were left stranded this weekend as a fresh wave of delays and cancellations rippled through major Japanese hubs and spilled into key routes linking Japan with the United States. From Tokyo’s Haneda and Narita airports to Osaka and Fukuoka, operations involving All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan Airlines (JAL), Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and other carriers have been severely disrupted, with dozens of flights canceled and scores more delayed. Among the hardest hit were passengers booked on services sold as Flight 266 and on 38 separate flights that never left the ground, many of them connecting Japan’s busy domestic trunk routes with long haul services to US cities.
A Weekend of Systemwide Strain in Japanese Skies
The current wave of disruption reached a peak on February 8 and 9, 2026, when flight schedules across Japan buckled under a combination of adverse weather, tight aircraft rotations and mounting operational strain. Nationally, more than 370 flights were canceled and over 1,700 were delayed in a matter of hours, according to aviation data compiled on Sunday. The pattern was clear: what began as localized issues quickly mutated into a systemwide problem as aircraft and crews failed to arrive on time for subsequent departures.
Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, the country’s primary domestic hub and one of its key gateways for US bound services, emerged as the main chokepoint. There, more than 150 flights were canceled and over 800 delayed. Each delay at Haneda reverberated across the network, tangling schedules at secondary hubs such as Osaka and Fukuoka and leaving departure boards across the country dominated by red and amber warning lights.
While most of the disrupted services were domestic or short haul regional flights, the impact on long haul operations was significant. Several US bound departures departed hours late or were scrubbed entirely when inbound aircraft from regional cities failed to arrive, with stranded travelers in Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka unable to secure timely alternatives. The knock on effect extended into the following day as airlines struggled to reposition aircraft and crews.
Haneda, Osaka and Fukuoka at the Epicenter
Haneda’s central role in Japanese aviation meant that any issue there would almost inevitably spiral into a national problem. On this occasion, the pressure at Haneda stemmed from a convergence of high winter traffic, weather related air traffic control restrictions and tight turnaround schedules that left little margin for error. Once delays crossed a critical threshold, crews began to run up against duty time limits and aircraft rotations broke down, forcing cancellations.
In Osaka, the impact was felt at both the city’s primary domestic airport, Itami, and at Kansai International, the key international hub for western Japan. Itami saw scores of delays and over a dozen cancellations, while Kansai experienced disruptions across a range of regional and international departures. Local travelers heading to Tokyo for onward connections to the United States found themselves blocked at the very first step of their journey, with some forced to overnight in Osaka hotels at short notice.
Farther southwest, Fukuoka Airport, a crucial link between Kyushu and the rest of the country, reported a surge in delayed departures and dozens of canceled flights. That created a secondary bottleneck as passengers struggled to reach Tokyo or Osaka in time to catch transpacific departures. In several cases, the cancellation of feeder flights meant that long haul services could not operate at all or were dispatched with far fewer passengers than expected, undermining airline economics and further complicating recovery plans.
Delta, United, ANA and JAL Confront Cascading Disruptions
Japan’s two flagship carriers, ANA and Japan Airlines, bore the brunt of the crisis by sheer volume. Together, they accounted for well over half of all cancellations and delays. ANA and its regional subsidiary ANA Wings were forced to ground more than a hundred flights while contending with over three hundred delays. JAL, meanwhile, reported more than seventy cancellations and several hundred delayed services, including many of its busy trunk routes linking Tokyo with Osaka, Sapporo and Fukuoka.
International operators were not spared. Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, both of which operate dense schedules between US cities and Japanese hubs, faced a mix of late departures and forced cancellations. With key Japan originating flights delayed for hours, aircraft and crews arriving in US gateways such as Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco did so badly off schedule, forcing knock on delays in the North American network. In at least one case, a flight marketed as Flight 266 was pushed back multiple times before eventually being held overnight, leaving hundreds of passengers searching for scarce hotel rooms near the airport.
Although US carriers represented a smaller share of total Japanese flight movements on the affected days, their services are disproportionately important for transpacific connectivity. A canceled or heavily delayed departure between Tokyo and a US city leaves limited options for rebooking, particularly during peak travel periods. That reality made the disruption especially painful for long haul travelers, who often found themselves at the back of long queues for rebooking and compensation discussions.
Hundreds Stranded and 38 Cancellations Leave Travelers in Limbo
For passengers on the ground, the statistics translated into long waits, missed connections and nights spent on terminal floors. Several flights, including those marketed under the Flight 266 designation, never made it into the air on their scheduled day of departure, trapping travelers in holding patterns of rolling delay notifications that eventually turned into outright cancellations. Those 38 canceled services alone represented thousands of disrupted travel plans once connecting itineraries and onward journeys were factored in.
In Tokyo, entire families returning from winter holidays queued side by side with business travelers and foreign tourists at improvised customer service counters, clutching rebooking numbers and mobile phones loaded with airline apps. Airport staff, already stretched thin, worked late into the night to issue new boarding passes and arrange hotel vouchers where possible. For every traveler who secured a seat on an alternative departure, others were told that the next available flight would depart a day or even two days later.
At Osaka and Fukuoka, the situation was similar but complicated by the limited number of long haul departures. Many travelers could not be accommodated on alternative flights from the same airport and were instead rebooked via Tokyo, only to run into the same congestion there. That double disruption left some passengers shuttling between cities without ever reaching their final destination, as ground transportation and hotel capacity in major urban centers also came under strain.
Knock On Effects in US Cities
The disruption was not confined to Japanese soil. In the United States, airport operations teams reported a wave of late arriving flights from Japan that upset tightly choreographed schedules at major hubs. Aircraft that were supposed to turn quickly back to the air for domestic or regional missions were instead stuck at gates waiting for late passengers, cargo and connecting crews. The domino effect was felt across the domestic networks of Delta and United in particular.
At several US gateways, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, passengers bound for Japan discovered that their departure was delayed due to the late arrival of inbound aircraft. In a handful of cases, evening flights scheduled to return to Tokyo or Osaka were canceled outright when crews ran out of legal flight duty hours after operating earlier segments affected by the disruption. That meant that confusion and frustration were mirrored on both sides of the Pacific, with travelers in US cities facing the same uncertainty as those in Japan.
Airports also confronted a logistical crunch as late night arrivals from Japan clashed with curfew considerations and ground handling capacity limits. Baggage delivery slowed sharply in some terminals as handlers juggled aircraft that should have arrived in staggered fashion but instead appeared in tight clusters. For passengers, what should have been a routine long haul trip turned into a marathon of waiting in line, checking mobile updates and searching for scarce information about revised itineraries.
Why Japan’s Aviation Network Is So Vulnerable to Shocks
Japan’s highly efficient aviation system is designed around punctuality and rapid turns, but that very efficiency can become a vulnerability when conditions deteriorate. Airlines schedule tight connections between domestic and international flights, particularly for passengers heading to and from the United States. Aircraft and crews are carefully rotated through multiple sectors in a day, which allows carriers to maximize fleet utilization but leaves little slack when a storm front, technical issue or air traffic control restriction hits a key hub.
On this particular weekend, a mix of winter weather constraints and high traffic volumes collided with that finely tuned system. Once early morning departures were delayed, aircraft could not reach their next cities in time to operate subsequent legs. As the day wore on, crews bumped up against regulated maximum duty times, forcing airlines to cancel flights even when aircraft were technically available. In the background, lingering capacity adjustments on some international routes, including reductions by foreign carriers serving Japan, meant there were fewer alternative options for rebooking stranded travelers.
The experience highlighted how closely interconnected domestic and international operations have become. A delayed feeder flight from a regional Japanese city can end up grounding a transpacific departure hours later. Conversely, a late arriving long haul service can cause knock backs for multiple short sectors the next morning. When multiple hubs such as Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka are all affected at once, the network’s ability to absorb shocks is quickly overwhelmed.
Airline Response and Support for Stranded Passengers
Facing long lines at check in and transfer counters, airlines moved to activate contingency plans. ANA and Japan Airlines brought in additional ground staff, extended service hours at call centers and encouraged passengers to use digital tools for rebooking where possible. Both carriers issued advisories allowing free changes for affected itineraries on certain dates, a step that helped some travelers shift their plans away from peak disruption windows.
Delta and United adopted similar measures, offering travel waivers on select Japan related routes. For US based passengers, these waivers allowed rebooking to alternate travel dates or, in limited cases, rerouting through different Asian gateways. However, available seats on those alternatives were quickly snapped up, especially in the premium cabins used by business travelers and long haul leisure passengers who had booked far in advance.
Despite the additional resources, reports from terminals in Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka described scenes of palpable frustration as travelers sought clear answers about their rights and options. Language barriers added to the complexity for some foreign visitors, while domestic passengers navigating a disrupted workweek worried about missed meetings and events. Airport authorities worked in tandem with carriers to provide basic amenities, from additional seating to bottled water, for those facing extended waits.
What Travelers Should Do Now
For those still scheduled to travel between Japan and the United States in the coming days, the situation calls for vigilance and flexibility. Airlines and airports are working to restore normal operations, but residual delays and occasional cancellations are likely as crews and aircraft are repositioned and as backlogged passengers are accommodated. Travelers should monitor their flight status frequently, using both airline apps and airport information screens, and should consider arriving at the airport earlier than usual, particularly if they hold separate tickets for connecting flights.
Passengers whose services were canceled or delayed significantly should keep detailed records of boarding passes, receipts and communications with airlines. Depending on the circumstances and the country of departure, they may be entitled to refunds, hotel accommodation or other support. Even where formal compensation rules are limited, many carriers offer vouchers or goodwill gestures after major disruption events, especially to frequent flyers.
In the longer term, the recent chaos serves as a reminder of the value of building buffer time into itineraries that involve tight international connections. Opting for slightly longer layovers, avoiding the very last departure of the day on crucial sectors, and maintaining flexible plans on arrival can make the difference between a disrupted journey and a completely derailed trip when the aviation system comes under pressure. For now, as Japan’s airlines and their US partners work to get planes and passengers moving again, patience and preparation remain the traveler’s most reliable tools.