More than a thousand flights were canceled in the United States on Tuesday and thousands more delayed as a winter storm bringing heavy snow, winds and coastal flooding moved into the Northeast. As of 7 p.m. ET, almost 1,150 flights within, into or out of the United States had been canceled, according to flight tracking site FlightAware. More than 4,700 flights were delayed. New York’s LaGuardia International Airport and Boston Logan International Airport both had about 300 cancellations. Newark Liberty International Airport had almost 150 cancellations as of 7 p.m. Boston Logan advised travelers to check with their airlines on flight status before coming to the airport. Newark Liberty International Airport also urged travelers to check with their airlines before heading to the airport and to allow extra travel time. “Today, a wintry mix of snow and rain is expected in the NJ/NY metro area. These conditions, and anticipated wind gusts, may cause hazardous travel conditions,” Newark airport tweeted Tuesday. Delta Air Lines has issued a Northeast weather waiver for travel on Tuesday and Wednesday. American, United, Southwest, JetBlue and Spirit have also issued waivers that allow passengers to reschedule at no cost for a limited time.<br/>
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US airlines on Tuesday tried to reassure investors about the strength of travel demand, a day after United Airlines stoked worries about the industry's pricing power. Even as executives in other sectors of the economy have warned of recession risks, airline CEs until now have remained upbeat as consumer travel demand stayed strong. But United's unexpected profit warning caught investors by surprise. "To have an airline warn of weaker growth starts to put the service sector of the economy closer in alignment with the goods sector, and paint a weaker picture for investors," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Cresset Capital. United's CEO Scott Kirby on Tuesday tried to explain away the change in the quarterly outlook, saying at a JPMorgan investor conference that the company's earlier forecast was a "bad" one. Other airline chiefs told the conference that they were still optimistic. Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said in the past 30 days, the airline has recorded 10 highest sales days in its history. "If anyone's looking for weakness, don't look at Delta," Bastian said. Delta reaffirmed its first-quarter outlook, saying travel demand is strong and getting stronger. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said the Texas-based carrier was enjoying "tremendous" demand. Month-on-month increase in airfare in February was the fastest in nine months, according to the US Labor Department. Airline ticket prices have gone up due to persistent capacity constraints and an unending thirst for travel after pandemic-related restrictions ended. That has helped carriers mitigate cost pressures.<br/>
The FAA is investigating yet another close call between commercial airliners, this time at Reagan National Airport near Washington, DC – the seventh since the start of this year. On March 7, Republic Airways Flight 4736 crossed a runway, without clearance, that United Airlines Flight 2003 was using for takeoff, according to a preliminary review, the FAA said. The United pilot had just been cleared for takeoff from the runway, the agency said. “An air traffic controller noticed the situation and immediately canceled the takeoff clearance for the United flight,” the FAA said. Recordings accessed from LiveATC.net show air traffic controllers in the tower exclaiming, “United 2003 cancel takeoff clearance!” The crew of the United flight responded, “Aborting takeoff, United 2003.” The pilot of the Republic flight had been cleared to cross a different runway, “but turned on the wrong taxiway,” the FAA said. The news of yet another close call comes ahead of Wednesday’s FAA safety summit, the first of its kind since 2009. The summit kicks off a sweeping safety review that the agency is conducting in the wake of these incursions. Last month, a Southwest passenger jet and a FedEx cargo plane came as close as 100 feet from colliding at an Austin, Texas, airport, and it was a pilot – not air traffic controllers – who averted disaster, according to Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the NTSB. And in January, there was an alarming close call similar to this latest one. A Delta Air Lines flight was taking off from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport when air traffic controllers “noticed another aircraft crossing the runway in front of the departing jetliner,” the FAA said. Story has more.<br/>
US regulators are engaging in a “real shift” on how they view competition in transportation industries and will make “vigorous” use of their authority to ensure airlines, railroads and others serve consumers, says secretary Pete Buttigieg. “I am concerned about this broader pattern of concentration. We see it in airlines, we see it in ocean shipping and we see it in freight railroads,” Buttigieg said. “We are watching very carefully to see what’s happening and meanwhile, being as vigorous as we can with the tools that we have on the competition side.” That changed approach is most apparent in the Department of Transportation’s decision last week to block JetBlue Airways Corp’s takeover of Spirit Airlines Inc, he pointed out. On the same day the Justice Department sued to block the deal in federal court, the transport agency said it would deny the airlines’ request for an exemption to operate as a single carrier while awaiting final approval of the deal. It is also investigating the takeover request to determine if it violates rules governing unfair and deceptive practices, and unfair competition, the agency said. The department also has Southwest Airlines Co “under a microscope” following the carrier’s meltdown during the holiday travel period in late December, Buttigieg said.<br/>
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Tuesday that a series of aviation close calls was "deeply troubling and deserve our immediate attention." The FAA is holding a safety summit on Wednesday with airlines, unions, airports and other industry segments after numerous recent near-miss incidents have raised safety concerns. "While there is no apparent single cause for recent close calls and investigations are ongoing, I want to make sure we are doing everything we can, at every level, to prevent them," Buttigieg wrote in a letter to participants at the planned safety summit. Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen in a "call to action" memo last month said he was forming a safety review team to "examine the U.S. aerospace system’s structure, culture, processes, systems, and integration of safety efforts." Nolen told reporters last week that he "wanted to assure the American public" that the US aviation system is safe but wants to make sure the FAA is not missing any warning signs. "Are there any dots that we need to connect?" Nolen said, saying the FAA has not uncovered any systemic issues. Former Air Line Pilots Association President Lee Moak said in a Washington Post opinion piece on Tuesday the incidents should raise alarms. "We cannot wait for our aging and understaffed aviation infrastructure to break, and a tragedy to occur, to demand action," he wrote.<br/>
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says the federal government will close a loophole that allows airlines to deny customers compensation for cancelled flights. He says the reform will come as part of an overhaul of passenger rights to be tabled in Parliament this spring. Airlines frequently cite safety-related issues to explain cancelled flights, which is an exemption that allows them to reject compensation claims. Alghabra’s pledge came during a press conference at Toronto’s Pearson airport this morning, where he promised $76m to reduce the backlog of complaints at the Canadian Transportation Agency. He says the money will allow the transport regulator to hire 200 more employees who can chip away at the 42,000 complaints currently filed there. The announcement comes after the government granted an additional $11m to the agency in last year’s budget — shortly before travel chaos erupted over the summer as flight demand surged, prompting another wave of complaints.<br/>
Flights to and from Greek airports will be grounded on Thursday when air traffic controllers and civil aviation workers walk off the job to join a 24-hour nationwide strike over the country’s deadliest train crash on record. On Feb. 28, a passenger train with more than 350 people on board collided head-on with a freight train killing 57 people and injured dozens. The general strike, called by the country’s largest private and public sector unions, is the latest in a series of protests against the conservative government and a political system which has repeatedly ignored calls by unions over safety measures. All flights will be halted between 12:01 a.m. and midnight local time (1001 GMT - 2200 GMT) on March 16 and only overflights, emergency and search-and-rescue flights will take place, an official at the civil aviation authority told Reuters. Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air said they were forced to cancel all domestic and international flights on the day. Hundreds of flights are expected to be affected across the country’s approximately 40 airports.<br/>
Frankfurt Airport operator Fraport on Tuesday forecast 2023 earnings below market expectations, sending its shares down by as much as 7%, as higher operational costs erode gains from increased traffic. Air traffic at airports across Germany has been disrupted by ongoing strikes over pay and conditions, after the rapid recovery in tourism in 2022 led to staff shortages and soaring inflation prompted employees to demand higher wages. CE Stefan Schulte said expected wage increases were a major factor in rising costs, meaning that the outcome of ongoing negotiations would impact whether Fraport’s ground handling business could break even next year as hoped. The operator of Germany’s largest airport sees annual earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of E1.04b to 1.20b in 2023. The outlook mid-point of E1.12b was below an analysts’ estimate of E1.17b in Refinitiv data. Jefferies analyst Graham Hunt said the guidance reflected cost inflation that was expected to offset faster traffic recovery this year. He said staff costs were the main reason for what he called a cautious outlook. Fraport expects 2023 passenger traffic to be between 80% and 90% of the pre-pandemic level of 2019. The group in January said passenger travel at its airports nearly doubled last year, driven by the relaxation of travel restrictions after pandemic-related lockdowns, but was still around 30% below the 2019 level. In response to the rebound in traffic, it has expanded its operational workforce at Frankfurt Airport and plans to hire some 1,500 staff members this year, it said.<br/>
Boeing said Tuesday it delivered 28 aircraft in February, down from 38 deliveries the previous month amid supply-chain problems and a delivery pause of several weeks involving the 787 Dreamliner. The US-based aerospace giant has delivered 66 aircraft since the beginning of the year, equivalent to the number delivered by European rival Airbus. Boeing delivered 24 of its bestselling 737 MAX aircraft last month compared to 35 in January. While the drop-off in deliveries was somewhat expected, with Boeing CFO Brian West last month estimating MAX deliveries in the "low 20s" for February, the situation was further complicated when Boeing discovered a data analysis error that led the FAA to pause 787 Dreamliner deliveries on Feb. 23. The company delivered a single 787 to United Airlines last month, down from three Dreamliners in January.<br/>