Deciding when to cancel flights

It's a balancing act for the airlines. Cancel too soon, especially this time of year, and you're stuck with many more passengers to re-book, an enormously complicated and expensive process (not to mention most irritating for the passengers involved). But cancel too late and you're stuck with aircraft in places where they shouldn't be - a major logistical hassle. Figure that most everything will be shut down beginning around noon on Saturday (eastern time), and likely stay that way through most of Sunday. The good thing about a hurricane is that, barring any damage to the runways or terminals, service can be resumed pretty quickly. That's unlike what happens after a blizzard, when runways need to be plowed and planes de-iced. Here's a roundup Reuters story, but obviously you're best off checking with your airline.