Airlines waive change fees as Northeast blizzard looms

Major U.S. airlines are waiving change fees for customers flying to the Northeast as a monster winter storm targets the region.

Wintry precipitation is forecast for most of the region's major cities Monday, with blizzard conditions possible for parts of New York state and southern New England.

Nearly every big airline in the United States and Canada had announced winter-weather waivers by 7:45 p.m. ET Sunday (full list here). The details vary by airline, but most allow passengers flying through to or through the Northeast to make one itinerary change without paying the standard change fee.

Poor Monday weather was forecast to impact areas from northern Virginia into New England and Atlantic Canada, affecting nearly every major metro area in the region. Major airports expected to see disruptive snow totals include New York JFK, New York LaGuardia, Newark Liberty, Philadelphia, Boston and most airports in New England.

Snow was expected to be falling by Monday morning in New York and Philadelphia and by afternoon in New England, where the storm was forecast to stretch into Tuesday evening. Up to a foot was possible in Philadelphia while New York could see up to a foot and a half. In New England, forecasts called for up to two feet.

If the forecasts prove accurate, airports in those areas could flights grind to a halt at the peak of the steam.

To the south. the three big airports serving the Washington and Baltimore metro areas were expected to see rain turn to snow on Monday. As much as three inches were forecast for areas around Washington Dulles, Washington Reagan National and Baltimore/Washington International airports. That could create some disruptions at those airports, as well.

More broadly, the storm could have a major impact on air travel across the United States on Monday. Nearly every big U.S. airline has a hub at one of the airports expected to be impacted by the storm. Even fliers in other parts of the country could be affected. A flight from Nashville to Phoenix, for example, could become delayed or canceled if the aircraft or crew operating that flight gets knocked off schedule by the snow in the Northeast.

The airlines that have hubs expected to see snow on Monday are:

American: American, along with merger partner US Airways, operates a hub at three airports in the storm's path: New York JFK, Philadelphia and Washington National.

Delta: The carrier operates a hub at both New York JFK and New York LaGuardia. Delta also has a significant presence at Boston.

JetBlue: New York JFK and Boston are the two biggest hubs in the airline's network.

United: Newark Liberty is one of United's busiest hubs. The carrier also has a hub at Washington Dulles, which is expected to see smaller snow totals.

Southwest: Baltimore/Washington (BWI) is one of the busiest airports in Southwest's network. BWI is expected to see only moderate snow totals, but it could still disrupt flights there – especially if disruptions from elsewhere in the Northeast impact flights operating to and from BWI.