East Coast Blizzard Grounds Thousands of Flights; Real-Time Flight Tracking Reveals Massive Disruption

A powerful winter storm is battering the U.S. East Coast, triggering massive flight disruptions that have grounded over 5,000 aircraft, according to CNBC reporting. From Virginia through Maine, major carriers have suspended ticket modification and refund penalties as passengers scramble to rebook.

Data from FlightAware—a leading flight tracking service—shows the scope of the crisis: on February 22, approximately two-thirds of inbound traffic and 40% of outbound operations at New York's busiest hubs, John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia, were canceled. Flight tracking systems indicate the situation escalated further on February 23, with conditions expected to deteriorate even more as the system moves northeast.

Airlines have begun waiving change fees in response to the weather emergency, though real-time flight monitoring suggests that rebooking options remain extremely limited across the affected region.