Airlines cancel thousands of flights as winter storm blankets northeast U.S.

Airlines have canceled thousands of flights as a winter storm bore down on the Northeast of the U.S. over the weekend, bringing high winds and the potential for more than a foot of snow in some areas.

Winter storm warnings from the National Weather Service were in effect Friday through much of Saturday from Maryland to Maine.

Carriers canceled more than 3,500 U.S. flights scheduled for Saturday after more than 1,400 on Friday, according to flight-tracker FlightAware.

Delta Air Lines said Friday that it planned to suspend operations at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and Boston Logan International Airport from Saturday through Sunday morning “as airfields and ground transportation infrastructure are expected to be impacted.”

Delta cut 461 mainline flights or 19% of its Saturday schedule, according to FlightAware.

New York-based JetBlue Airways, which also has a major operation out of Boston, cut half of its Saturday schedule, or 418 flights.