Travel chaos hits the US with flights grounded coast to coast

Travel chaos swept across the US yesterday as severe weather and operational issues forced a huge number of ground stops at major airports. This lead to thousands of flights being delayed, hundreds being canceled and passengers stranded all across the country. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered temporary halts at key East Coast airports including JFK, Reagan National and Philadelphia International, all due to intense thunderstorms. The ripple effects quickly spread, disrupting air traffic throughout the country (Pictures: Getty Images)

By the early evening on Monday, more than 5,700 flights in and out of the United States had been delayed and over 800 were canceled, according to flight tracking data. New York’s two main airports - JFK and LaGuardia - as well as New Jersey’s Newark Liberty, were hit especially hard. JFK delays topped two and a half hours. LaGuardia saw average delays of 157 minutes, while Newark departures faced delays stretching beyond three hours, MailOnline reports (Pictures: Getty Images)

Passengers waiting for flights at Philadelphia International and Washington’s Reagan National also faced extensive delays as storms hit the region. In Philly, conditions briefly improved as delays dropped to about 75 minutes. But overall traffic remained heavily disrupted throughout the day. Washington flights were halted until at least 5pm, with long queues building both on the tarmac and in terminals (Pictures: Getty Images)

George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston also experienced a ground stop until 6pm local time. While the FAA didn’t initially provide a reason, local reports blamed poor weather in the area (Pictures: Getty Images)

Monday marked a particularly tough day for American travelers. The cascading delays created a domino effect nationwide, with delayed incoming flights triggering even more back-ups, waits, cancellations and overall frustration. Some passengers reported being stuck on planes for a number of hours before take-off (Pictures: Getty Images)

Travel experts had warned that more delays and cancellations were possible as airlines struggled to recover. 'If the plane that’s supposed to become your flight is delayed in another city, you’ll often see the writing on the wall before the airline officially tells you,' said Jesse Neugarten, founder of Dollar Flight Club, speaking to Travel + Leisure (Pictures: Getty Images)

Neugarten advised travelers to act fast when seeing that flights are canceled or delayed. 'Airlines usually load alternate flight options right into the app when a cancellation happens and sometimes you’ll even get re-booking offers without asking,' he said. He also recommended calling international customer service numbers for faster assistance (Pictures: Getty Images)

As delays stretched into the night on Monday, the FAA extended several weather alerts through past midnight. The agency warned that ground delays at JFK and LaGuardia airports would likely persist with more storms expected. Newark’s alert also remained in effect through the evening, with limited take-offs and lengthy waits continuing (Pictures: Getty Images)

Looking ahead, travellers could face more disruption on Tuesday and possibly into Wednesday. AccuWeather meteorologists predicted another round of thunderstorms along the East Coast, from New Hampshire to the Carolinas. While a number of US airlines urged passengers to check their flight status and arrive at the airport as early as they can, given that they should be expecting queues, lines and wait times that are significantly longer than usual (Pictures: Getty Images)