US Federal Aviation delays flights owing to decreased visibility due to Canada wildfires

On June 8, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced flight delays to New York City-area and Philadelphia airports due to reduced visibility caused by wildfires in Canada. The FAA reported an average delay of 54 minutes for flights into New York City’s LaGuardia Airport.

Visibility issues also caused delays at Newark Liberty Airport, prompting the FAA to consider potential traffic delays into Washington and Charlotte, North Carolina. Earlier, the FAA had temporarily halted flights to LaGuardia and Philadelphia from the US northeast, Ohio, and the Mid-Atlantic region.

United Airlines responded to the smoky conditions by waiving change fees and fare differences for travelers who wished to reschedule their trips to affected cities, including New York, Buffalo, Washington, Philadelphia, Syracuse, New York; Hartford, Connecticut, and Columbus, Ohio, on June 9 and 10.

Wildfires in Canada have presented challenges for authorities, who are managing resources and seeking assistance from international reinforcements. Over 1,000 firefighters from countries such as Australia, the United States, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Spain, and Portugal have been called in to support Canada’s firefighting efforts.

While wildfires are a common occurrence in Canada, the current situation is being described as “unprecedented.” Fires have been reported in nearly every Canadian province, a distribution that deviates from the typical pattern of fires occurring primarily in the West at this time of year, as stated by Michael Norton of Canada’s Natural Resources ministry.

The wildfires have already burned millions of hectares of land and posed a threat to major Canadian cities, resulting in the evacuation of thousands of residents. While managing wildfires is typically the responsibility of Canada’s provinces, Alberta, Nova Scotia, and Quebec have requested military assistance from Ottawa. The military’s firefighting capabilities are being expanded to combat the wildfires, but experts note the challenges in directly attacking large fires and the need for significant rainfall to extinguish them, as explained by fire risk management specialist Marc-Andre Parisien.