Airlines waive fees as storm slows East, Midwest travel

Last update: 5:50 p.m. ET

A broad storm system proved to be a nuisance for air travelers in parts of the Northeast and Midwest on Monday. A mix of snow, ice, rain and poor visibility was affecting flights in several major metro areas as the system moved from the Midwest toward the East Coast's major population centers.

More than 600 flights had been canceled nationwide and another 815 delayed as of 5:50 p.m. ET, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. Most of the flight disruptions were concentrated at several busy airports in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley.

Several major airlines had waived change fees for flights to affected areas, though the details varied by carrier. JetBlue's waiver, which included nearly 20 East Coast airports, covered the broadest area. United's waiver covered all flights to, from or through the big New York- and Washington-area airports. Delta's policy covers flights at the three big New York City-area airports, as well as at the nearby airports in Newburgh, N.Y., and White Plains, N.Y.

New York City's delay-prone airports were among the hardest hit as of Monday morning. More than 100 flights had been canceled at Newark Liberty and more than 80 at LaGuardia as of 5:50 p.m. ET. That accounted for about 10% of the day's schedule at Newark and more than than 5% at LaGuardia, according to FlightAware. Only minimal problems were being reported at New York's JFK airport, though the number of flight affected by delays had risen since morning.

With rain and reduced visibility forecast into the evening, delays were likely to be a problem as well for all three New York City airports.

Elsewhere, similar conditions had led to significant problems Monday afternoon at Philadelphia, another delay-prone airport that typically sees large flight disruptions even in moderate weather events. Cancellations were higher than normal, running at about 7% of the day's schedule. Delays, however, were affecting about 1 out of every 3 flights there, according to FlightAware.

In the Mid-Atlantic, a number of flights had been disrupted in Washington, D.C., where a wintry mix overnight gave way to mostly rain by Monday morning. Nearly five dozen flights had been canceled and another 150 delayed at Washington's Reagan National Airport as of 5:50 p.m. ET. Combined, that meant more than 20% of Monday's flights had been delayed or canceled, according to FlightAware's count. In a bit of good news, however, there had been few new cancellations at National airport since early Monday morning.

At Washington Dulles, about three dozen flights had been canceled and another 90 delayed as of 5:50 p.m. ET. Those were modest numbers for the airport, D.C.'s primary international airport and a hub for United.

Mostly minor problems were being reported at Baltimore/Washington International, the third major airport serving the greater Washington area.

Delays and cancellation tallies were relatively minor, but still above normal at North Carolina's Charlotte and Raleigh/Durham airports. Morning fog had given way to afternoon rain and generally stormy weather there. Afternoon delays also has jumped at both Atlanta and Dallas/Fort Worth, where about 25% and 15%, respectively, of the day's flights were operating late, according to FlightAware.

In the Midwest, fliers were running into the worst problems in Indianapolis, where freezing rain was a problem Monday morning. About 40 flights had been grounded at Indianapolis, according to FlightAware. Conditions there were slowly improving, and few new cancellations had been reported since early Monday morning. Cancellations were not a substantial problem at either airport, two the nation's busiest hubs.

Pittsburgh, Columbus, Ohio, and a few other Midwest and Mid-Atlantic airports also were seeing a higher-than-average number of delays and cancellations, though disruptions there remained relatively minor as of 2 p.m. ET. In Chicago, about 10% of the day's flights were delayed at Chicago O'Hare, though cancellations did not appear to be a widespread concern at the hub.

To the West, more than 20% of Monday's flights at San Francisco had been delayed and about three dozen canceled as of 5:50 p.m. ET (2:20 p.m. local time) after fog was reported there earlier Monday. Visibility had improved by afternoon.