Trying to stay ahead of winter storms, US airlines already canceling many Thursday flights

The patience of thousands of airline travelers will be tested again Thursday by a winter storm stretching from Texas to southern New England.

Airlines canceled more than 1,800 U.S. flights scheduled for Thursday after scrubbing nearly 1,700 through early evening on Wednesday, according to tracking service FlightAware.com

The airports likely to be hit hardest Thursday include Dallas-Fort Worth, Philadelphia, Reagan National and Dulles in the Washington area, and LaGuardia and Newark in the New York City area.

The bulk of cancelations for Thursday are on regional carriers such as ExpressJet and Republic that operate flights with smaller aircraft for the major airlines.