Airlines canceled more than 2,000 flights Thursday ahead of Father's Day weekend.

John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports were at the top of FlightAware's misery map for most cancellations and delays.

Emily Goldrick, of North Babylon, says her brother left from JFK Friday for Florida and got delayed.

"I think he had like a 7 a.m. flight and it was delayed three hours," Goldrick says. "He had to get to SeaWorld."

The cancellations came as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg held a virtual meeting with airline officials, pushing them to examine whether they can handle the schedules that they are publishing.

"Hopefully, the airlines were put on notice by the Department of Transportation that if you can't staff the flight that you preemptively cancel it," Matthew says.

Travel experts say there is no way to completely avoid delays or cancellations but taking early flights out of congested airport can avoid some problems because issues usually happen later in the day.

They also advise air travelers to monitor airline communications, get to the airport early and consider purchasing travel insurance to help cover any possible expenses.