East Coast airports hit with flight delays as smoke from Canada wildfires affects visibility

Flights headed to LaGuardia International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport faced delays as smoke from wildfires in Canada affected visibility surrounding those airports, the Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday. “The FAA has taken steps to manage the flow of traffic into the New York City area due to reduced visibility from wildfire smoke,” the agency said in a statement. Later in the day, the FAA said it would be “slowing traffic” from the East Coast and Midwest for flights headed to Philadelphia. All three airports were under “ground delay” status, according to FAA data. Departures to La Guardia faced delays of nearly two hours, on average, according to FAA data. Flights taking off from LaGuardia were delayed an average of 30 minutes. Flights coming into Newark were being delayed on average of 82 minutes, with roughly half-hour delays for flights to Philadelphia, the FAA said. Shortly after 2 p.m., the FAA noted that “The agency will adjust the volume of traffic to account for the rapidly changing conditions.” According to FlightAware data, there were 248 delays and 13 cancellations at LaGuardia, with 162 delays and 31 cancellations at Newark. JFK International Airport had 73 delays and six cancellations, according to FlightAware.