Nor’easter Travel Updates: Flight Cancellations, Airline Waivers, and Cruise Reroutes

This weekend’s nor’easter is readying to cause headaches for possibly thousands of travelers this weekend, and many are starting to feel the impact as of Saturday midday.

As of 11 a.m. EDT, according to FlightAware, Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) and the smaller regional New England airports are getting hit the hardest on Saturday morning. More than a quarter of all departures from Logan have already been canceled, and most of the scheduled flights at the others have already been dropped.

The New York airports are faring better, all things considered, with just 14 cancellations at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and just seven at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). Those numbers are almost certain to get worse throughout the day on Saturday and into Sunday depending on how bad the conditions get.

The most concerning of those conditions, according to the National Weather Service, will be gale-force winds, with gusts increasing to 45 to 65 mph for eastern Long Island and southern New England. Those kinds of winds will likely lead to some power outages and tree damage that could cause road closures in those areas. The rain, which will last through Sunday night in southern New England, also brings a risk of flash flooding.

The NWS says that “the system will approach the New Jersey coast Saturday night and Sunday before moving northeastward on Monday.”

Major Airlines Issue Flight Waivers

Here is how the major airlines are reacting to the storm and it’s potential impact through Sunday night:

United Airlines: Travel waiver covers 10 Northeast airports—including Boston (BOS), Newark (EWR), New York (JFK/LGA), Hartford (BDL), Manchester (MHT), Philadelphia (PHL), Providence (PVD), Portland (PWM), and Nantucket (ACK)—for travel between Sept. 25 and Sept. 27. Rebooking fees and fare differences are waived for same-cabin travel through Sept. 29.

American Airlines: Advisory applies to 16 Northeast airports, including major hubs in Boston (BOS), New York (JFK/LGA), Newark (EWR), Philadelphia (PHL), and the Washington, D.C. area, for travel from Sept. 25 through Sept. 27. Passengers can rebook through Sept. 29 without paying a change fee or fare difference.

JetBlue: Waiver covers 11 Northeast and New England hubs—including JFK, LGA, EWR, HPN, ISP, BOS, PVD, ACK, MVY, HYA, and Worcester (ORH)—for Sept. 25–27 travel. Change and cancellation fees are waived, with rebooking permitted through Sept. 30 (waiver code: WXB6HRUB26). Full refunds apply if JetBlue cancels the flight.

Delta Air Lines: Delta issued formal weather flexibility waivers for Sept. 26–27 across New York (JFK/LGA), Newark (EWR), Philadelphia (PHL), Portland (PWM), Providence (PVD), and White Plains (HPN), as well as a separate Boston (BOS) waiver covering Sept. 26–29. Change fees and fare differences are waived for rebooked travel on or before Sept. 30 (or through Oct. 2 for Boston routes).

Cruise Ship Changes

The storm is coming in the middle of the Canada/New England sailing season, and many ships are being forced to change plans.

Royal Caribbean scrapped the entire Canada and New England sailing on Vision of the Seas out of Baltimore. Delayed returning to port, the ship held overnight and sailed Friday, Sept. 25, at 3 p.m., pivoting south to a Bahamas and Florida routing instead.

Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Venezia was hit on both ends of its Bermuda run out of Manhattan. The ship cut its previous Bermuda visit short to outrun building seas, arriving into New York three hours late Thursday. That delayed embarkation for its Sept. 24 sailing, pushing its arrival into Bermuda back by 24 hours to Sunday morning and trimming its planned overnight stay to a single daytime call.

Norwegian Cruise Line had Norwegian Escape shave hours off its Thursday, Sept. 24 port visit to Halifax, Nova Scotia. The ship rushed back down the coast to dock in Manhattan late Friday night, nearly 12 hours ahead of its scheduled Saturday morning arrival.