If you receive my Daily Travel Tip newsletter, then you already know it’s going to be a rough travel day for the East Coast. It’s not often that all three major airlines issue a travel waiver.
Each time I hit refresh on FlightAware.com the number of canceled flights jumps. For example, at the time of publishing this post (12:10pm ET) there are already 810 flights canceled to, from and through the United States. Thirty minutes ago it was half that.
Here is each airline’s travel waiver:
American Airlines: Severe weather – Northeast U.S.
If you’re scheduled to travel today (July 31, 2025) to, from or through any of the following airports — Baltimore (BWI), Boston (BOS), New York Kennedy (JFK), New York LaGuardia (LGA), Newark (EWR), Philadelphia (PHL), Washington Dulles (IAD), Washington Reagan (DCA) or White Plains/Westchester County (HPN) — you can change your ticket to a different time today or through August 3, 2025.
Delta Air Lines: Northeast U.S. Weather
Delta’s waiver is similar to American’s. “Through Jul. 31, travel to/from/through these airports may be impacted: BWI, DCA, EWR, HPN, IAD, JFK, LGA, PHL.”
United Airlines: East Coast Thunderstorms
United Airlines is allowing voluntary flight changes for today, July 31. The waiver applies to travel to, from or through the following airports: Baltimore (BWI), Boston (BOS), Hartford (BDL), New York JFK (JFK), New York LaGuardia (LGA), Newark (EWR), Philadelphia (PHL), Providence (PVD), Washington Dulles (IAD) and Washington National (DCA). “You can reschedule your trip and we’ll waive change fees and fare differences. But your new flight must be a United flight departing between July 29, 2025 and August 3, 2025. Tickets must be in the same cabin and between the same cities as originally booked.”
I monitor U.S. air traffic every day and by far United Airlines is the most lenient when it comes to travel waivers. So I wasn’t surprised they were the first to issue one (two days ago). What I am surprised about is how quickly these numbers are jumping. In the ten minutes it took me to write this there are now 866 flights canceled. Of those, 116 are at LGA which is 21 percent of their daily schedule. And the severe weather hasn’t even kicked in yet according to AccuWeather.com.
The severe weather isn’t supposed to hit until 2pm and there’s a Flood Watch until 8pm. “A widespread 1.5 to 3 inches of rain is likely, with localized amounts up to 5 inches. Rainfall rates could exceed 2+ inches per hour, especially for areas south. – http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood”
If you are flying today to, from or through NYC after 2pm I would seriously consider postponing your flight if you don’t want to deal with long delays. Two weeks ago passengers at Newark were trapped on the plane for eight (8) hours!
According to the FAA’s National Airspace System (see screenshot above) there’s already lengthy Ground Delays. there are already lengthy ground delays. As of 12:23pm:
EWR Ground Delay
Departures to Newark International are delayed an average of 218 minutes due to thunderstorms.
LGA Ground Delay
Departures to LaGuardia are delayed an average of 150 minutes due to thunderstorms.
JFK Ground Delay
Departures to John F. Kennedy International are delayed an average of 192 minutes due to thunderstorms.
PHL Ground Delay
Departures to Philadelphia International are delayed an average of 135 minutes due to thunderstorms.
If you don’t want to go at all, then I would roll the dice and see if your airline cancels your ticket. If they do, they have to refund you in full (cash, not a travel credit).
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