US airlines to halt Northeast flights

Airlines were generally shutting down operations in the afternoon at the three big New York-area airports as well as Boston, Providence, Portland, Maine, and other Northeastern airports. They're hoping to resume flights on Saturday.

Flight-tracking website FlightAware said airlines have canceled more than 4,200 flights on Friday and Saturday in advance of the storm.

Many travelers were steering clear of that part of the country altogether. Airlines waived the usual fees to change tickets for flights in the affected areas.

Airlines try to get ahead of big storms by canceling flights in advance rather than crossing their fingers that they can operate in bad weather. They want to avoid having crews and planes stuck in one area of the country. They also face fines for leaving passengers stuck on a plane for more than three hours under a rule that went into effect back in 2010.

Airlines began canceling Saturday flights on Friday.

"That's when the meteorologists start to have reliable predictions and the FAA holds conference calls to discuss which airports are shutting down," said Daniel Baker, CEO of FlightAware.

Airlines are also at the mercy of mass transit in each city they fly to. They'll often wrap up flying around the same time that commuter trains and subways begin shutting down, he said.

Storms like this one jam up airline call centers, so airlines are increasingly automating the process of re-booking passengers.

Delta is rolling out software it calls "VIPER" — Virtual Inconvenienced Passenger Expedited Reprotection — to find a replacement flight for passengers whose flights have been canceled.