Lufthansa has begun large-scale preventative cancellations after U.S. weather services warned of a coast-to-coast blizzard expected to paralyse airports from Texas to Maine between 24 – 26 January.
According to the airline’s spokesperson, all departures from Frankfurt to New York-JFK, Newark, Boston, Washington-Dulles, Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston on 25 January have already been scrubbed, with further cancellations and significant delays likely as the storm track moves north-east.
![Winter storm in the U.S. forces Lufthansa to cancel multiple long-haul flights from Frankfurt]()
The decision was taken less than 24 hours after the U.S. National Weather Service upgraded its warnings and asked carriers to reduce schedules proactively. Frankfurt Airport remains fully operational, but ground-handling teams have been instructed to prepare for last-minute aircraft parking swaps and irregular crew positioning.
For corporate mobility managers the disruption comes at an awkward time: January is peak season for North-Atlantic project kick-offs and trade-fair travel out of Germany. Employers have been advised to trigger duty-of-care protocols, allow remote attendance at U.S. meetings where possible, and double-check ESTA validity for travellers re-routed through Canada.
Lufthansa said affected customers will be rebooked free of charge or offered refunds; rebooking queues, however, were already exceeding one hour on Saturday afternoon. Travellers with onward connections to Latin America have been told to monitor the situation closely because missed trans-Atlantic sectors invalidate through-tickets on many fare classes.
According to the airline’s spokesperson, all departures from Frankfurt to New York-JFK, Newark, Boston, Washington-Dulles, Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston on 25 January have already been scrubbed, with further cancellations and significant delays likely as the storm track moves north-east.
The decision was taken less than 24 hours after the U.S. National Weather Service upgraded its warnings and asked carriers to reduce schedules proactively. Frankfurt Airport remains fully operational, but ground-handling teams have been instructed to prepare for last-minute aircraft parking swaps and irregular crew positioning.
For corporate mobility managers the disruption comes at an awkward time: January is peak season for North-Atlantic project kick-offs and trade-fair travel out of Germany. Employers have been advised to trigger duty-of-care protocols, allow remote attendance at U.S. meetings where possible, and double-check ESTA validity for travellers re-routed through Canada.
Lufthansa said affected customers will be rebooked free of charge or offered refunds; rebooking queues, however, were already exceeding one hour on Saturday afternoon. Travellers with onward connections to Latin America have been told to monitor the situation closely because missed trans-Atlantic sectors invalidate through-tickets on many fare classes.
Source: Frankfurter Rundschau
