A Nor’easter that packed a wallop in Connecticut Monday virtually shut down air travel at major flying hubs in the state, closing one commercial airport all together and making travel uncertain into at least Tuesday.
Tweed New Haven Airport shutdown its operations in a winter storm that produced blizzard conditions across parts of the state, resulting in the cancellation of more than 60 flights, the airport said.
“We continue to closely monitor the evolution of this historic storm, with the safety and security of our travelers and team members as our top priority,” Tweed said, in a statement. “Cleanup operations are actively underway, and we will provide updates on reopening as conditions change and additional information becomes available.”
Bradley International Airport, the state’s largest commercial airport, remained open but more than 90% of its scheduled flights had been canceled as of the mid-day Monday, according to the Connecticut Airport Authority, which oversees operations at Bradley.
As of 3 p.m., Flight Aware, the online flight tracking service, reported that 78 flights, or 86% of flights out of Bradley had been canceled and another 71, or 77%, arriving at Bradley had been canceled. There were just four delays, according to Flight Aware.
“Due to the number of cancellations today, we expect to see cancellations and delays into tomorrow as our airline partners work to restore their normally scheduled service,” the CAA said. “Anyone flying tomorrow, and even into Wednesday, should be closely monitoring the status of their flight directly with their airline.”
Tweed offered the same guidance to passengers on its flights. Late Monday, Tweed said the airport would reopen Tuesday.
Flight Aware forecast improving conditions for Tuesday at Bradley but there were still cancellations. The flight tracker expected cancellations of 26 flights, or 36%, for departing flights and just 3, or 4%, for flights arriving at Bradley.
Air travel came to a virtual standstill Tuesday across much of the Northeast as the region was pummeled by a winter storm with heavy snowfall and winds. Travel at some of the region’s largest airports was sharply curtailed with more than 5,000 flights — arriving and departing — were canceled Monday from Ronald Reagan Washington International Airport in Arlington, VA, north to Boston’s Logan International Airport.
The largest number of canceled flights, according to Flight Aware, were at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City where more than 1,100 flights were canceled.
At Bradley, CAA spokesman Brian Spyros said Monday’s winter storm packed more of a punch than the one on Jan. 25 because it was lasting longer — and the snow was heavier and wet, Monday’s storm also was accompanied by gusting winds and, at some points, trouble with visibility.
Bradley has 13 million square feet of surface space that needs to be cleared. Spyros said the work routinely entails circling back on areas previously cleared so freshly fallen snow isn’t given a chance to accumulate.
“Upwards of 40 people are actively working out on the airfield during a major storm like this, operating 32 pieces of specialized equipment that plow, blow and sweep all of the snow,” Spyros said.
Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at [email protected]