Hundreds of flights canceled, delayed at NYC airports after severe storms

New York City area airports are still facing hundreds of flight disruptions after strong thunderstorms swept through the area, forcing some passengers to camp out on the floor of terminals. 

As of 12:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, more than 20% of flights in and out of New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport have been canceled and another 9% have been delayed, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. On Monday, more than 40% of Newark’s flights were canceled and another 35% were delayed. 

One passenger tweeted a video Monday of the massive line in front of the United Airlines customer service desk as disruptions mounted.

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A separate Twitter post from user Glenn Schuck showed how affected passengers were still stuck in Newark airport Tuesday morning as weather-related disruptions persisted. 

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One passenger from South Africa, in particular, was allegedly stranded at the airport for 27 hours as he tried to make his way to Ohio, according to another Twitter post on Tuesday.   

Issues also mounted at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. 

As of 12:30 p.m. ET Tuesday, 27% of flights had been disrupted at LaGuardia and 14% were disrupted at Kennedy. On Monday, over 60% of flights had been canceled or delayed at Kennedy airport while over 70% had been delayed or canceled at LaGuardia.

An issue with technology at a major air traffic control facility also exacerbated the disruptions. On Sunday evening, the Federal Aviation Administration briefly paused operations at Washington D.C. area airports due to a problem with the communications system. 

Departures resumed after repairs were completed.

In total, nearly 2,000 U.S. flights were canceled on Saturday and Sunday combined, according to FlightAware. On Monday, over 8,800 delays and over 2,200 cancellations.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.