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Flight cancellations are piling up by the thousands ahead of what could be one of the biggest winter storms to hit the U.S. in recent memory.<\/p>\n
The first flakes from the storm have yet to fall, but carriers have begun canceling flights in anticipation of the storm \u2013 dubbed “Winter Storm Fern” by The Weather Channel.<\/p>\n
More than 350 flights for Friday had already been canceled as of 10:50 p.m. EST on Thursday, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware<\/a>. Saturday’s schedules had taken an even bigger hit, with more than 1,065 additional cancellations<\/a> on the books. All told, that means airlines by Thursday evening had canceled more than 1,400 flights for Friday and Saturday, with the tally certain to grow.<\/p>\n The preemptive cancellations come after forecasters have been warning for days of a potentially devastating winter storm that could spread a mix of heavy snow and ice across a swath of the U.S. stretching from the Texas and the Deep South north through the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.<\/p>\n Airlines also have been warning about the storm’s possible effect on schedules, with most of the nation’s big airlines rolling out flexible rebooking policies for airports along the system’s expected path.<\/p>\n Winter weather waivers<\/strong>: Alaska Airlines<\/a> | Allegiant<\/a> | American<\/a> | Delta<\/a> | Frontier<\/a> | JetBlue<\/a> | Southwest<\/a> | Spirit<\/a> | United<\/a><\/p>\n Now airlines have begun canceling flights to help keep planes, crews and passengers from becoming stranded after conditions deteriorate.<\/p>\n Several of the nation’s busiest airports faced the prospect of severe disruptions through Monday, including the world’s busiest in Atlanta that’s also home to Delta Air Lines’ biggest hub. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) \u2013 the nation’s second-busiest airport \u2013 also could see major disruptions from ice and wintry weather.<\/p>\n Major hubs serving New York, Charlotte, Washington, Philadelphia and Boston were likewise forecast to get hit with schedule-crippling weather from the storm before it exits the Northeast on Monday.<\/p>\n Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter<\/p>\n Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG\u2019s experts<\/p>\n