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US airlines cut off cargo service ahead of major Northeast storm

Delta, United tell customers not to send trucks to airports

Eric Kulisch
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Delta Air Lines planes at Boston Logan International Airport. (Photo: Shutterstock/Quality HD)

Updated 10:55 a.m. ET, Jan. 30. (This is a developing story)

Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are restricting the pickup and delivery of cargo at airports in the Northeast as a major storm approaches that some forecasts say could dump more than 2 feet of snow in parts of the region.

Delta Cargo (NYSE: DAL) notified customers that it has embargoed all shipments at John F. Kennedy International Airport ,LaGuardia Airport and Newark in the New York City area, Bradley International Airport in Hartford, Connecticut, and Norfolk International Airport in Virginia starting at 8 p.m. Friday through noon Sunday. Warehouses will be closed at Boston Logan International Airport between midnight Saturday and 4 a.m. Monday.

“Impacted customers will be proactively notified and rebooked,” Delta said in the alert.


Blizzard warnings are in effect for the East coast from Virginia to Maine. Weather forecasters are calling the storm developing off the East Coast a nor’easter, with heavy wind, rain and snow depending on its trajectory.

United Cargo (NASDAQ: UAL) will stop cargo operations at all three New York-area airports, including its hub in Newark, New Jersey, starting late Friday and ending at noon on Sunday, according to a weather alert on its website.

Similar restrictions are in effect for Bradley, and T.F. Green International in Rhode Island, beginning at 1 a.m. Saturday.

Philadelphia is restricted from midnight until 3 p.m. Saturday.


And Norfolk International Airport in Virginia will not provide any cargo service between 8 a.m. Saturday and 5:30 a.m. Monday.

“All cargo will be held at the origin station until the restrictions have ended unless it has been rerouted at a customer’s request. Please note that we will be unable to accept drop-offs at the affected airports for future shipments during the above restricted times,” United Cargo said.

American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL) said all outbound and inbound cargo shipments at the Norfolk airport will be suspended from Saturday through Monday at 8 a.m. No restrictions have been announced for any other locations.

More than 1,300 flights were canceled Friday and airlines are expected to cancel thousands more this weekend.

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.

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Eric Kulisch

Eric is the Supply Chain and Air Cargo Editor at FreightWaves. An award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering the logistics sector, Eric spent nearly two years as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Automotive News, where he focused on regulatory and policy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, mobility, fuel economy and safety. He has won two regional Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for government and trade coverage, and news analysis. He was voted best for feature writing and commentary in the Trade/Newsletter category by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He was runner up for News Journalist and Supply Chain Journalist of the Year in the Seahorse Freight Association's 2024 journalism award competition. In December 2022, Eric was voted runner up for Air Cargo Journalist. He won the group's Environmental Journalist of the Year award in 2014 and was the 2013 Supply Chain Journalist of the Year. As associate editor at American Shipper Magazine for more than a decade, he wrote about trade, freight transportation and supply chains. He has appeared on Marketplace, ABC News and National Public Radio to talk about logistics issues in the news. Eric is based in Vancouver, Washington. He can be reached for comments and tips at ekulisch@freightwaves.com