A Logan Airport fuel squeeze is compounding the damage from this weekend’s rare September nor’easter, as storm conditions kept jet-fuel barges from reaching Boston Harbor and Delta Air Lines warned of a significant number of cancellations at Boston Logan International Airport on Sunday, Sept. 27.
Part of our Boston News coverage. Browse more in Weather and Climate.
In a Saturday update on its Delta News Hub, the airline said weather in the region had “constrained fuel deliveries” into BOS. Delta said it was flying inbound aircraft to Boston with extra fuel set aside for their next departure and trucking in additional fuel by tanker where feasible, while issuing fee-free change waivers for affected travelers.
Why Logan Airport Fuel Deliveries Stalled
Logan’s jet-fuel reserves are normally replenished by ships and barges, and those vessels could not safely make the trip north while the storm churned offshore. A Massport spokesperson said in a statement reported by Paddle Your Own Kanoo that the airport had enough fuel to get through the weekend, but that the fueling consortium was asking airlines to carry extra fuel on inbound flights “just to be safe.” Massport said it expects fuel ships to arrive as soon as the storm passes and stressed that operational impacts were coming from the weather itself, not from fuel.
That practice, known as tankering, works for shorter hops but is harder on long-haul routes where there is little spare tank capacity. Aviation insider JonNYC reported on X that outbound flights were limited to minimal fuel uplift on Saturday and that some departures could need a refueling stop elsewhere, according to the same report. Those accounts have not been independently confirmed by Massport.
Delta Cancellations Lead Sunday Disruptions at BOS
As of about noon Sunday, FlightAware data compiled by TheTravel showed roughly 143 departures and 135 arrivals canceled at Logan, with Delta logging 98 cancellations and more than 300 delays systemwide—the most cancellations of any major U.S. carrier. On Saturday, about a quarter of scheduled BOS departures were scrubbed, and Cape Air and Delta posted the highest cancellation counts at the airport, The Boston Globe reported. Both carriers offered free changes.
Nor’easter Impacts Around Boston
The fuel pinch comes on top of a storm that pushed wind gusts past 71 mph on Saturday afternoon, according to the Globe, which reported Boston itself saw about 1.5 inches of rain while southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod topped 5 inches in spots. More than 12,000 Massachusetts customers were still without power Sunday morning, and gusts of 30 to 50 mph were forecast into midday before easing in the afternoon. The storm arrived largely as forecasters warned in our earlier coverage of Boston’s nor’easter weekend preparations and the coastal flood watches issued through Sunday.
What Logan Travelers Should Do Now
Massport is urging passengers to check with their airline before heading to East Boston, and Delta says it automatically rebooks affected customers onto the next best itinerary, with further changes available in its app. Until fuel vessels resume deliveries after the storm clears, travelers on long-haul and early-morning departures from Logan should expect the possibility of schedule changes, fuel stops, or rolling cancellations.
Sources
- Delta News Hub (news.delta.com)
- Paddle Your Own Kanoo (paddleyourownkanoo.com)
- TheTravel (thetravel.com)
- The Boston Globe (bostonglobe.com)
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