The poor air quality affecting millions of Americans is unlikely to improve significantly Thursday, the National Weather Service said, while more flights were delayed due to low visibility.
The Federal Aviation Administration paused flights Thursday to New York’s LaGuardia Airport from the Northeast, Ohio and Mid-Atlantic areas, and delayed all flights bound for Newark International Airport. More than 14,000 flights within, into, or out of the U.S. were delayed Thursday as smoke from Canadian wildfires spread across the Northeast.
“Reduced visibility from wildfire smoke will continue to impact air travel today. We will likely need to take steps to manage the flow of traffic safely into New York City, DC, Philadelphia and Charlotte, ” the FAA said in a statement Thursday.
On Wednesday, the U.S. National Weather Service had issued air-quality alerts ranging from “very unhealthy” to “hazardous” levels across New York, Washington, and Philadelphia.
The organization said it doesn’t expect the situation to improve much Thursday. “Not a great deal of air-quality improvement is anticipated [Thursday] as smoke from wildfires in eastern Canada continues to filter southward,” it said in a post on Twitter.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul spoke about the air quality in her state Thursday.
“The message is this is not over. We might get a little respite but I don’t want people to let down their guard and to become complacent about this,” Hochul said.
Shares in companies that sell air purifiers were given a boost Wednesday as
Whirlpool
stock (WHR) climbed 6%,
Newell Brands
stock (NWL) rose 3%, and shares of
Carrier Global
(CARR) gained 4%. However, those stocks were trading lower Thursday, with Carrier Global stock down about 1% following an unrelated downgrade of the stock. Whirlpool fell about 1.8% and Newell declined 3.6%.
Carrier stock declined after Morgan Stanley analyst Joshua Pokrzywinski downgraded it to Hold from Buy, and lowered the price target to $47 from $49. Air quality didn’t factor in the downgrade: Pokrzywinsk doesn’t see reasons for gains in the stock after the recent acquisition of Viessmann Climate Solutions, announced at the end of April.
Wildfires might not be significant long-term catalysts for providers of heating and cooling solutions, such as Carrier, but they do put air quality into focus. That widens the spotlight to include
Trane Technologies
(TT) and
Honeywell International
(HON), which make filtration and air-pressure-management products.
“Currently in New York, it is advisable to avoid introducing external air indoors,” pointed out a Honeywell spokesman, adding the company’s automated sensing, filtration, purification, and circulation systems help ensure the air quality in commercial buildings.
As for Carrier, it has some air quality advice. “Check all filters and ensure that an adequate filter replacement program is in place,” said a company spokesman. “Inspect filter racks for airtightness and potential bypass, upgrade to MERV 13 or better filtration efficiency.” MERV is short for Minimum Efficiency Rating Value and relates to a filter’s ability to filter particles. Portable air cleaners are also an option, as is closing ventilate, the spokesman said.
Lumber prices, which tend to rise amid wildfires as producers typically cut output due to the blazes, were higher. Lumber futures climbed 3% to $507 per thousand board feet Wednesday.
New York’s LaGuardia Airport was the worst-affected U.S. airport Wednesday, according to data from flight-tracker FlightAware.com. More than 500 flights to and from the airport were delayed, or around 44% of those scheduled.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop at the airport due to low visibility.
In a video posted to Twitter Thursday, the FAA explained that when aircraft need to land in periods of low visibility, they rely on advanced navigations that work well through water droplets, but not as well through solid particles, like smoke and ash.
“During periods of low visibility due to smoke, air traffic controllers and pilots need to take additional safety precautions. This includes greater distances between arriving and departing aircrafts, as well as limiting the types of aircraft that may land, based on their navigation equipment,” the FAA said.
Airline stocks were largely unaffected, however, as the
U.S. Global Jets
exchange-traded fund (ticker: JETS) rose 0.6% Wednesday and gained 1% Thursday.
Write to Callum Keown at [email protected], Al Root at [email protected] and Angela Palumbo at [email protected]
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