Boston Logan delays flights as Canadian wildfire smoke causes poor visibility

“Any hopes that Monday morning would yield clearer skies were dashed when a quick peek outside shows the same haziness that has plagued the region for several days…The main culprit remains Canadian wildfire smoke, originating from the Manitoba and Ontario Provinces. The second culprit is a stubborn high-pressure cell planted over the Midwest which is holding the smoke in place and compressing it close to the ground.

As a result, we will be maintaining the state-wide Advisory through Tuesday. Models are indicating that as the high-pressure cell slowly exits the region, Wednesday should be clean enough to end the advisories. However, since smoke is more unpredictable than other pollutants, this forecast will be updated Tuesday morning.”

The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) reports that many current fires are located in remote areas such as Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. These locations make it difficult for firefighting teams to access affected regions with equipment or personnel. In 2025 alone, over 6.7 million acres have burned across more than 4,000 recorded fires; out of 742 ongoing fires tracked by CIFFC, 198 are considered out of control.

Firefighting efforts include thirty fire-bombers and other aircraft mobilized this year according to CIFFC data. The organization coordinates information sharing between agencies and supports mutual aid arrangements like MARS (Canadian Interagency Mutual Aid Resources Sharing Agreement) and CANUS (Canada/United States Reciprocal Forest Fire Fighting Arrangement). These agreements enable critical resources such as firefighting planes and crews to be shared across borders.

Smoke significantly reduces pilots’ visibility during flight operations—especially under visual flight rules—making takeoff, landing, or navigation hazardous if conditions deteriorate below safe thresholds. Pilots must rely heavily on instruments when visual cues are obscured but sometimes conditions require halting operations entirely until safety can be assured.