The presence of smoke in the air from wildfires in Canada continues to impact air operations in the northeastern United States. The conditions began affecting flights from the afternoon of Wednesday, June 7, although smoke had already been affecting air quality since the previous day.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), «it is likely» that new measures will need to be taken today to safely manage traffic flow in the vicinity of the metropolitan areas of New York, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and Charlotte.
Smoke complicates operations in the Northeastern United States
In the «Big Apple,» the situation started to worsen from the afternoon of yesterday, June 7. Until then, flights to or from any of the three major airports serving the city had not been affected, despite the worsening air quality that had already forced the suspension of other activities.
The worsening conditions caused widespread delays at John F. Kennedy (JFK), LaGuardia (LGA), and Newark (EWR) airports. Air traffic to and from the New York area terminals slowed down in order to maintain operational safety and prevent further disruption.
The FAA has slowed traffic to and from New York City area airports due to reduced visibility from wildfire smoke.
The agency will continue to adjust the volume of traffic to account for the rapidly changing conditions.
Please monitor https://t.co/smgdqJN3td. #AirQualityAlert
— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) June 7, 2023
Latest updates
During the early hours of today, Thursday, June 8, the government agency responsible for regulating civil aviation in the country reported that all flights to New York from Ohio, the Mid-Atlantic region, and the rest of the northeastern United States were «paused».
On the other hand, flights destined for Philadelphia (PHL) would not take off until further notice due to poor visibility conditions.
Reduced visibility from wildfire smoke will continue to impact air travel today. We will likely need to take steps to manage the flow of traffic safely into New York City, DC, Philadelphia and Charlotte.
Follow us here for major updates & monitor https://t.co/smgdqJN3td.
— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) June 8, 2023
At the time of publishing this article, the latest report from the Federal Aviation Administration indicated average delays of 54 minutes at LaGuardia and 34 minutes at Newark.
Currently, the smoke continues to affect large areas of the Northeastern United States, as well as the provinces of Ontario and Quebec in Canada. The conditions are expected to persist in the next few hours. Meanwhile, aviation authorities are closely monitoring the situation.
