New York Flight Upheaval Disrupts Air Travel Throughout U.S.

Hurricane Sandy's grounding of more than 6,800 commercial flights, including all departures and arrivals at metropolitan New York's three major airports, will disrupt air-travel networks throughout the U.S. and beyond.

Scrubbed flights include about 1,200 today and more than 5,500 tomorrow, said Daniel Baker, chief executive officer of Houston-based FlightAware, a flight-tracking company. Airlines will begin canceling flights for Oct. 30 and Oct. 31 as the weather forecast becomes clearer, he said.

While carriers are halting operations at LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty airports, flights to and from other areas will also be affected. New York's airports together represent a linchpin in the U.S. network, serving more than 52 million departing passengers last year and outstripping the world's busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta.
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