They’re becoming U.S. citizens — with pride

The metropolitan area’s three major airports reported a second straight day of serious travel troubles, with nearly 500 flights to LaGuardia canceled in the last 24 hours, the FlightAware website reported Friday.

The figures were equally daunting at Kennedy Airport, with a reported 207 cancellations in the same time period, and at Newark Liberty, where passengers faced 382 grounded flights.

FlightAware resported that passengers headed into LaGuardia were facing average delays of nearly2 hours at the airports of their flights’ planned departures.

On Thursday, officials reported more than onethird of LaGuardia flights were scrubbed and more than a quarter canceled at Newark.

Summer storms that disrupted flight schedules on Thursday caused a ripple effect into Friday, according to LaGuardia officials.

“Weather delays can cause a ripple affect [sic] and lead to air traffic congestion. We are working very hard with the airlines to get flights in and out of the airport,” officials tweeted on Friday.

Another part of the problem was a dearth of workers, particularly pilots, to staff scheduled flights. Unions representing Southwest, Delta and American airlines said the companies reacted too slowly to fill the vacancies when pilots retired or took leaves of absence once the pandemic hit.

Travel headaches plagued other East Coast airports as well.

Boston’s Logan Airport saw delays to 7% of its flights and 5% were canceled.

Frustrated travelers vented their frustration on Twitter.

“So. I was supposed to land in New York 3 hours ago and we’ve just now landed,” Twitter user Derek Newsome posted on the social media site. “Not a huge deal to have a delay, it happens. The only problem is we’ve just landed in Philadelphia instead of LaGuardia ... Today has been fun for traveling.”

Another traveler swore off Delta airlines over the ordeal.

“This is by far the worst experience I’ve ever had. You guys delayed our flight 3 times, then sent me to Boston, then you guys tell me you can’t get me a hotel room or a different flight with another airline dumbest sh*t I’ve ever heard,” social media user @ EJWclaysoccer12 posted.

A special naturalization ceremony was held at the Stonewall National Monument in Greenwich Village’s Christopher Park on Friday during Pride Month. The new American citizens took the Oath of Allegiance across from the Stonewall Inn, site of the Stonewall Riots in 1969 that ignited the Gay Liberation movement in America.

An agent looks over a passenger’s documents at a TSA checkpoint in LaGuardia Airport, where more than 500 flights were canceled over the past two days, according to the FlightAware website.