As smoke from wildfires in Canada envelops the area, a Delta Airbus A320 airplane gracefully takes off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
Flights in the Eastern U.S. experienced disruptions once again on Thursday due to the smoke from Canada wildfires, causing hundreds of delays as a result of decreased visibility, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
“The FAA will likely need to implement measures to ensure the safe flow of air traffic into New York City, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and Charlotte, North Carolina due to the reduced visibility caused by wildfire smoke,” stated the agency.
Earlier on Thursday, the FAA temporarily suspended inbound traffic to Philadelphia International Airport.
The heavy smoke led to numerous delays on Wednesday, affecting hundreds of flights to and from LaGuardia Airport in New York and nearby Newark Liberty International Airport. At one point, the FAA even halted traffic to LaGuardia for a brief period.
According to the flight tracker FlightAware, over 4,200 flights within, to, and from the U.S. were delayed by Thursday evening.
At 6:40 p.m. ET on Thursday, over half of the day’s schedule at LaGuardia consisted of more than 280 delayed flights, with an additional 161 departures experiencing delays, as reported by FlightAware.
Meanwhile, at Newark, around 19% of departures and a fifth of flights heading to the New Jersey airport were delayed.
In response to the air quality issues caused by the wildfires, American Airlines and United Airlines announced that they would waive change fees and fare differences for affected travelers in the region, as long as they are able to fly before the following Wednesday.
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