Flights Canceled in Newark, NYC, Throughout NortheastJetBlue on Friday canceled nearly three-fourths of all scheduled flights across the country -- most in the New York area -- because of a winter storm on the East Coast.Aiming to avoid criticism that followed a storm last month, the discount airline had canceled about 400 of its 550 flights by mid-afternoon. Included in that total were about 160 flights out of New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport; 14 out of Newark Liberty International Airport, and seven out of LaGuardia Airport, said JetBlue spokesman Todd Burke."It's a strategic move to cancel your flights in advance to help you position aircraft and crews for a quick recovery when the storm is over,'' he said. "Our plan is working beautifully.''
He said most of the customers in the New York area were notified of the cancellations in advance, except for Newark.
"Newark is an unusual circumstance where we had last-minute cancellations,'' he said. "The vast majority of flights that are canceled were notified well in advance.''
Overall, about 1,400 flights at the three New York area airports were canceled by mid-afternoon, said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airports.
He said the Port Authority deployed extra customer service agents to Newark to assist passengers with canceled JetBlue flights and others. Many customers there, though, fumed as they tried to rebook tickets.
Karen Opdyke, her husband, three young children and mother were trying to get to Miami after their 9 a.m. flight was canceled.
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