Weather conditions prompt massive flight delays, cancellations at NYC airports

Poor weather conditions in New York City on Friday prompted major flight delays and cancellations at airports across the city amid heavy thunderstorms. 

Travelers flying into the city's three major airports of LaGuardia, JFK and Newark faced hours of grueling delays or cancellations of hundreds of flights after the city's Emergency Management Department warned of flash flooding until 9 p.m.

According to Flight Aware, 296 flights were canceled and 375 were delayed at JFK alone.

New York City is expected to see 1 inch to 1.5 inches of rain on Friday, which can cause flooding on highways and streets, and winds gusting at 60 mph with the possibility of penny-sized hail, according to the New York Daily News.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the delays are a combination of bad weather conditions and flight controllers calling out sick.

“For any travelers flying in and out of the Northeast — please be prepared for delays and cancellations due to controllers calling out sick on top of difficult weather patterns,” Duffy posted on X. “When roughly 40-60% of controllers call out sick at multiple facilities in the New York region, we have to delay flights to maintain the safety of the airspace.”

The delays and cancellations come after 1,579 flights were delayed nationwide on Thursday and 128 were canceled amid widespread U.S. travel disruptions.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.