Flight disruptions across the United States and parts of Canada intensified this week as a powerful winter storm and operational ripple effects forced airlines to cancel hundreds of services, snarling travel at major hubs and on key routes to cities including Toronto, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Philadelphia.

American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Air Canada were among the hardest hit, with more than 170 flights canceled on a single day and thousands more scrubbed or delayed since the weekend, leaving passengers stranded in terminals, sleeping on cots and scrambling to rebook.

More News

Storm Fern Pushes US Flight Cancellations to Crisis Levels

The latest wave of cancellations is the most visible aviation fallout from Winter Storm Fern, a sprawling system that swept from New Mexico to New England between January 22 and January 27, 2026. The storm delivered heavy snow, ice and treacherous winds across the eastern half of the United States and into central Canada, prompting governors to declare emergencies, authorities to issue travel bans and airlines to preemptively thin their schedules.

On Sunday January 25, airlines in the United States canceled more than 10,000 flights in a single day, making it one of the worst days for weather-related air travel chaos since the early months of the pandemic. By the end of the weekend, roughly 20,000 flights had been canceled nationwide since Friday, as carriers struggled to reposition aircraft and crews and clear a widening backlog of stranded travelers.

Conditions remained difficult into the new week. By Monday January 26, aviation data providers reported more than 5,000 additional cancellations and at least 6,500 delays in the United States as the storm’s impact continued to ripple through airline networks. While operations have begun a gradual recovery, the disruption has carried over into midweek schedules, with certain hubs and popular routes still seeing elevated cancellation rates and extended delays.

Travelers passing through affected airports described scenes of crowded terminals and long lines at customer service desks as they sought scarce alternative seats. Airport hotels quickly filled up in key storm zones, forcing many passengers to spend the night in terminals or arrange last-minute transport to accommodations farther from the airport.

American, Delta, United and Air Canada Among Hardest Hit

American Airlines has borne a disproportionate share of the disruption, both in raw cancellation numbers and in the severity of its operational breakdown. The carrier scrapped more than 10,500 flights between Friday and Tuesday, equal to nearly 40 percent of its schedule over that period, as Winter Storm Fern hammered several of its largest hubs. The worst bottlenecks emerged at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, American’s primary hub, where sustained freezing rain and ice effectively shut down many operations.

On Wednesday January 28 alone, American canceled more than 400 flights, around 15 percent of its daily schedule. The airline requested ground stops at Dallas Fort Worth and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport at points during the disruption in order to manage gate constraints and prevent arriving flights from further overwhelming congested terminals. Executives have acknowledged that the combination of outdated systems, severe weather and complex hub structures magnified the impact on customers and crews.

Delta Air Lines and United Airlines have also seen large-scale disruptions, with both carriers canceling significant portions of their schedules on the most intense storm days. At the peak of the weather event, Delta scrapped close to half of its flights on one day, while United canceled more than a third of its operations on another, heavily affecting hubs such as Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Newark and Chicago.

In Canada, Air Canada was hit particularly hard at Toronto Pearson International Airport, where record-breaking snowfall forced the cancelation of hundreds of flights. The airline, along with regional partner services, has spent several days attempting to restore normal operations at Pearson and other affected Canadian airports, including Ottawa and Montreal, while also managing cross-border disruptions on routes linking Canada with major US hubs.

Key Routes to Toronto, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Philadelphia Disrupted

While the brunt of the weather system and the largest concentration of cancellations were focused in the eastern United States and central Canada, the effects were felt across the North American aviation network, including on routes to traditionally less snow-prone destinations such as Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Toronto Pearson, the busiest airport in Canada, experienced one of its worst weather days on record as heavy snow and persistent lake-enhanced bands triggered the cancellation of more than 560 flights on Saturday January 25. Short-haul flights between Toronto and US cities such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington saw widespread cancellations and rolling delays, complicating connections for travelers headed onward to the Caribbean, South America and Europe.

Philadelphia became another pinch point, both because of direct weather impacts and because it serves as a vital connecting hub for American and other carriers on the busy Northeast corridor. Multiple waves of cancellations there led to knock-on disruptions for flights to and from Florida, the Midwest and the West Coast, including major leisure routes to Miami and Orlando and transcontinental services to Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Even in the comparatively milder climates of Southern California and South Florida, passengers experienced the consequences of the storm in the form of delayed inbound aircraft, missing crews and tight connection windows. Flights from Miami to Western US cities and from Los Angeles and San Francisco back to east coast hubs were frequently delayed or canceled as airlines struggled to rebalance aircraft that had been stranded by the storm further east.

Passenger Strain at Major Hubs From Dallas to Toronto

In Dallas, one of the central flashpoints in the crisis, the combination of sleet, snow and ice overwhelmed airport infrastructure more accustomed to summer thunderstorms than prolonged winter storms. Runway treatments, deicing operations and gate availability all became limiting factors, forcing American and other airlines to suspend large portions of their operations and leave aircraft parked at remote stands.

At the same time, Toronto Pearson’s record snowfall pushed its snow and ice control teams to the limit, prompting the airport to activate its major snow response plan and mobilize plows, blowers and deicing trucks around the clock. Taxiways and aprons became increasingly difficult to keep clear as the snow continued to fall, and visibility dropped below safe thresholds at multiple points during the storm, compounding delays.

Inside terminals at these and other hubs, travelers confronted hours-long waits to speak to agents, fill out rebooking requests or secure meal and hotel vouchers. In some cases, airlines urged customers via their mobile apps and websites to postpone nonessential travel for several days, offering fee-free changes and extended travel waivers covering large regions of the United States and Canada affected by the storm.

Reports surfaced of families sleeping on cots provided by airport authorities, while others sprawled across gate area seating or the floors of baggage claim halls. For international passengers whose flights to or from cities such as Toronto, Miami and Los Angeles had been canceled, the wait times for the next available seat on a comparable route sometimes stretched to several days.

Airlines Roll Out Waivers, Overtime and Recovery Plans

As cancellations mounted, major carriers instituted and then repeatedly extended broad travel waivers to accommodate passengers whose plans had been disrupted by Winter Storm Fern and its aftermath. American, Delta, United, Air Canada and several low-cost carriers all offered customers the option to change their travel dates without incurring change fees, provided they rebooked within specified windows and retained the same origin and destination.

American Airlines, facing the heaviest scrutiny for its performance, took the additional step of offering double pay to certain frontline staff, including flight attendants, who worked flights on Wednesday January 28 as the airline attempted to stabilize its schedule. The move followed reports of crew members being stranded without hotel accommodations or timely schedule updates at affected hubs.

Operationally, carriers have focused on gradually rebuilding their schedules rather than attempting an immediate full restoration, a lesson learned from past disruptions where overambitious ramp-ups led to further cancellations. Airlines have been prioritizing trunk routes such as New York to Los Angeles, Chicago to San Francisco, and Toronto to key Canadian and US cities, while some lower-demand services remain suspended or operate at reduced frequency.

Industry analysts caution that even as the weather improves, passengers should expect several more days of uneven operations. Crew location imbalances, maintenance requirements for aircraft that spent days idle in harsh weather, and lingering airport capacity constraints may continue to trigger day-of travel disruptions, particularly during peak morning and evening departure banks.

Longer-Term Questions Over Resilience and Infrastructure

The latest bout of cancellations has renewed questions about the resilience of North American aviation infrastructure and airline operations in the face of increasingly volatile weather. While severe winter storms are not new, the scale and geographic reach of Winter Storm Fern, combined with high demand for air travel and tight airline schedules, exposed vulnerabilities at both carriers and airports.

Critics point to a combination of factors, including aging IT systems at some airlines, lean staffing levels following pandemic-era cost cutting and the growing complexity of hub-and-spoke networks, which can magnify the impact of disruptions at a single major hub. The heavy concentration of cancellations at carriers such as American has also sparked debate over differences in how airlines prepare for and respond to forecasted extreme weather.

Airports, particularly in regions not accustomed to sustained winter weather, face renewed scrutiny about the adequacy of their snow and ice removal equipment, deicing facilities and contingency plans for large-scale passenger strandings. Dallas Fort Worth and several airports in the Mid-South and lower Midwest saw conditions more common to northern climates, forcing them to improvise responses in real time.

Regulators and lawmakers are likely to examine the episode in coming weeks, focusing on issues such as passenger protections, transparency around delays and cancellations, and the standards for when airlines must offer hotel vouchers, meal credits or refunds. Consumer advocates argue that as climate-linked extreme weather events become more frequent, the regulatory framework needs to evolve to better protect travelers caught in large-scale disruptions beyond their control.

What Travelers Should Do If Their Flight Is Affected

For travelers still facing uncertainty as airlines work through backlogs, aviation experts advise starting with digital tools before joining the line at the airport. Most major carriers allow customers to rebook disrupted itineraries through their apps and websites, often providing more options more quickly than can be obtained from an overstretched gate or call center agent.

Monitoring flight status frequently remains crucial, as schedules continue to shift while airlines adjust to changing conditions and reposition planes and crews. Travelers connecting through heavily affected hubs such as Dallas Fort Worth, Chicago, Toronto, Philadelphia, Boston and New York area airports are particularly encouraged to build in extra time, consider alternative routings and keep an eye on potential earlier or later flights that may provide a more reliable path to their destination.

Passengers whose trips are time sensitive, including those heading to international connections in Toronto, Miami or Los Angeles, may find it worthwhile to explore alternative carriers or routings, even if it means traveling through a less direct path to avoid the most heavily stressed hubs. Travel insurance that includes trip interruption coverage can help recover some of the additional expenses incurred through hotel stays, meals and replacement tickets, though coverage terms vary.

Travelers are also reminded to keep essential items, including medication, valuables and a change of clothes, in their carry-on luggage rather than checked bags. With so many aircraft out of position and schedules in flux, mishandled baggage rates often rise during large-scale disruptions, and separated bags can take several days to catch up with their owners once operations stabilize.

FAQ

Q1: Why are so many flights being canceled in the United States right now?
The surge in cancellations is primarily due to Winter Storm Fern, a large winter system that brought snow, ice and high winds across much of the country and into Canada between January 22 and January 27, 2026. The weather made flying unsafe at times and forced airports to limit operations, leading airlines to cancel flights proactively and then struggle with the ripple effects.

Q2: Which airlines have been affected the most?
American Airlines has been the hardest hit in terms of total cancellations, especially at its Dallas Fort Worth hub. Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Air Canada and several regional and low-cost carriers have also canceled significant numbers of flights on the worst storm days.

Q3: Are specific routes like Toronto, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Philadelphia more disrupted than others?
Yes. Toronto Pearson saw heavy disruption after record snowfall, while Philadelphia, Boston, New York and Washington all experienced significant weather impacts. Because these airports serve as major hubs and connection points, flights to and from cities such as Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco have felt ongoing knock-on effects even when local weather is calm.

Q4: How long will the travel chaos last?
Weather conditions have started to improve, but airlines warn that recovery may take several days. Crews and aircraft are still out of position, and schedules remain fragile. Passengers flying through the rest of this week should be prepared for potential delays and sporadic cancellations, especially during peak periods.

Q5: What should I do if my flight is canceled?
First, check your airline’s app or website, which often offers self-service rebooking options. If digital tools do not solve your issue, contact the airline by phone or visit an airport customer service desk. Be prepared with alternative dates, times and even nearby airports that could work for your trip.

Q6: Will airlines provide hotel and meal vouchers if I am stranded?
Policies vary by airline and by the cause of the disruption. In many cases of weather-related cancellations, carriers are not strictly required to provide hotel vouchers, though some choose to do so as a goodwill gesture. Meal vouchers are more commonly offered during extended airport delays. It is important to ask the airline directly what support is available in your specific situation.

Q7: Can I get a refund instead of rebooking?
If your flight is canceled by the airline, you are generally entitled to a refund for the unused portion of your ticket, even on nonrefundable fares. If you choose not to travel because of delays or schedule changes, eligibility for a refund depends on the magnitude of the change and the airline’s policies, so it is advisable to review your carrier’s contract of carriage or speak with an agent.

Q8: Are travel waivers in place, and how do they work?
Most major carriers have issued temporary travel waivers for regions affected by Winter Storm Fern. These waivers typically allow you to change your travel dates without paying a change fee, as long as you keep the same origin and destination and travel within a specified window. Fare differences may still apply if you move to a more expensive flight.

Q9: How can I minimize the risk of disruption on upcoming trips?
When possible, book nonstop flights to reduce your exposure to connecting hub issues and choose earlier departures in the day, which are less likely to be affected by knock-on delays. Monitoring the weather at both your departure and connection points and signing up for airline alerts can also help you react quickly if schedules start to unravel.

Q10: Should I consider avoiding certain airports while airlines recover?
If your plans are flexible, you may want to avoid the most heavily affected hubs for a few days, particularly Dallas Fort Worth, Toronto Pearson, and major Northeast airports such as Philadelphia, Boston and the New York area. Routing through less impacted airports can sometimes offer a smoother journey, even if it adds a bit of distance or time to your itinerary.