More than 11,400 flights canceled Sunday as massive winter storm sweeps across US

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A massive winter storm made for a brutal travel day Sunday, with widespread cancellations and delays at some of the nation's busiest airports.

Widespread snow, sleet and freezing rain threatened nearly 180 million people — more than half the U.S. population — in a path stretching from the southern Rocky Mountains to New England, the National Weather Service said Saturday night. After sweeping through the South, the storm moved into the Northeast Sunday, and was expected to dump about 1 to 2 feet (30 to 60 centimeters) of snow from Washington through New York and Boston.

More than 11,400 flights were canceled on Sunday, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. Aviation analytics firm Cirium said that as of Sunday morning, the storm is the highest experienced cancellation event since the pandemic.

By Sunday afternoon, the majority of flights were canceled at busy airports in the Northeast and elsewhere. LaGuardia Airport in New York closed Sunday afternoon, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency said on its website the busy Queens airport grounded flights until 8 p.m.

In Philadelphia, 94% of flights, 326 flights, were canceled. Ninety-one percent of flights, 436 flights, were canceled at LaGuardia Airport in New York. New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport had 466 flights canceled, about 80% of flights, according to FlightAware.

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport said on its website that all airlines had canceled departing flights for the day, about 421 flights.

Significant disruptions also hit major airport hubs in Dallas-Fort Worth, Charlotte, Philadelphia and Atlanta, home to the nation’s busiest airport.

Allan Lengel of Detroit planned to return Monday from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where the temperature has been in the 80s. But he’s staying until Wednesday after Delta suggested he change his reservation because of the weather impact on flights.

“Can’t say I’m disappointed. Frankly, I had been thinking of returning later because of frigid weather,” Lengel, 71, said, referring to conditions in Michigan.

American Airlines had canceled over 1,790 flights for Sunday, about 55% of its scheduled flights for Sunday, according to FlightAware. Delta Air Lines reported over 1,470 cancellations and Southwest Airlines reported over 1,340 cancellations for the day, while United Airlines had about 1,016. JetBlue had more than 590 canceled flights, accounting for roughly 72% of its schedule for the day.

Vikrant Vaze, a Dartmouth professor specializing in commercial aviation logistics, said recovery from the storm cancellations and delays will take days if not longer. And even for travelers who aren't in areas that were directly affected by weather, cascading delays could still affect their travel plans.

“Because there are so many different airlines involved, I think it’s going to come down heavily to the individual airline's network structure, the extent of hit that each of them has had, and just the intrinsic capacity of the airlines to handle these massive disruptions,” he said.

If you’re already at the airport, get in line to speak to a customer service representative. If you’re still at home or at your hotel, call or go online to connect to your airline’s reservations staff. Either way, it helps to also research alternate flights while you wait to talk to an agent.

Most airlines will rebook you on a later flight for no additional charge, but it depends on the availability of open seats.

You can, but airlines aren’t required to put you on another carrier’s flight. Some airlines, including most of the biggest carriers, say they can put you on a partner airline, but even then, it can be a hit or miss.

If your flight was canceled and you no longer want to take the trip, or you’ve found another way to get to your destination, the airline is legally required to refund your money — even if you bought a non-refundable ticket. It doesn’t matter why the flight was canceled.

The airline might offer you a travel credit, but you are entitled to a full refund. You are also entitled to a refund of any bag fees, seat upgrades or other extras that you didn’t get to use.

Yamat reported from Las Vegas. AP writer Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report.

Airport crew plow snow during a winter storm in Philadelphia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Airport crew plow snow during a winter storm in Philadelphia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Airport crew plow snow during a winter storm in Philadelphia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

A flight status screen shows canceled flights at Philadelphia International Airport during a winter storm in Philadelphia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

An arrivals and departures board reflects several flight cancellations in and out of Love Field Airport, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

A lone traveler approaches a TSA checkpoint at Love Field Airport Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

A man arrives at Love Field Airport for a scheduled flight to San Mateo, California that had not yet been cancelled Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Planes move on the tarmac at the Nashville International Airport during a winter storm Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

The control tower at Love Field Airport is shown where weather conditions have had an impact on travel in and out of the normally busy airport Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

ISLAMABAD (AP) — An affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility overnight for a deadly suicide bombing inside a Shiite mosque on the outskirts of Pakistan’s capital that killed 31 people and wounded 169 others, as mourners gathered Saturday under tight security at the same mosque for funerals for the victims.

The regional Islamic State affiliate, known as Islamic State in Pakistan, claimed responsibility in a statement posted on its Amaq News Agency. It said the attacker arrived opened fire on security guards who tried to stop him at the main gate and detonated his explosive vest after reaching the mosque’s inner gate.

The Islamic State group suggested it viewed the Pakistani Shiites as legitimate targets, calling them a “human reservoir” that provided recruits to Shiite militias fighting the Islamic State in Syria.

Friday’s mosque bombing was the deadliest in Islamabad since a 2008 suicide bombing at the Marriott Hotel that killed 63 people and wounded more than 250. In November, a suicide bomber struck outside a court in the capital, killing 12 people.

The latest attack comes as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government has had to deal with a surge in militant attacks across Pakistan. According to Pakistani authorities, the attacker was a Pakistani national who had recently traveled to Afghanistan.

Authorities said several suspects, including the brother, mother and other relatives of the bomber, were arrested during overnight raids in Islamabad and in northwestern Pakistan, and that a police officer was killed in the operation.

More than 2,000 grief-stricken mourners gathered as coffins of those killed were brought to the mosque for funerals. Senior government officials and leaders of the Shiite community were among those who attended the funerals for about a dozen victims. Funerals of other victims were to be held in their home towns.

IS is a Sunni group that has targeted Pakistan's Shiite minority in the past, apparently seeking to stoke sectarian divisions in the majority Sunni country. In 2022 it claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that struck a Shiite Muslim mosque in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar, killing at least 56 and wounding 194.

Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif told reporters Friday that the attack signaled that Pakistan-based militants operating from Afghanistan could strike even in the capital.

His remarks drew a sharp response from Afghanistan’s Taliban government.

In a statement, Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry condemned the mosque attack in Islamabad but said the Pakistani defense minister had “irresponsibly” linked it to Afghanistan. Pakistan has frequently accused Afghanistan, where the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, of harboring militants, including members of the Pakistani Taliban. Kabul denies the accusations.

The attack also drew condemnation from the international community, including the United States, Russia and the European Union.

Prime Minister Sharif said he was grateful for the messages of sympathy and support received “from across the globe” following what he called a “heart-wrenching suicide attack in Islamabad.” He said international support remained critical to Pakistan’s counterterrorism efforts and vowed the perpetrators would be brought to justice.

Although Pakistan's capital has seen relatively few attacks compared with other regions, the country has experienced a recent rise in militant violence. Much of it has been blamed on Balochseparatists and the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which is a separate group but allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban.

Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo, Riaz Khan and Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan, contributed to this story.

Pakistani paramilitary soldiers control a crowd close to the site of a bomb explosion at a Shiite mosque, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Relatives and volunteers transport a victim of bomb explosion in a Shiite mosque, from at a hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/M.A Sheikh)

Relatives and volunteers transport a victim of bomb explosion in a Shiite mosque, from at a hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/M.A Sheikh)