Airlines Issue Waivers for “Difficult to Impossible” Travel Across U.S.
by Daniel McCarthy /Severe winter weather across the United States is wreaking havoc on thousands of people's travel plans this week. The weather, according to the NOAA, has made travel “difficult to impossible” across wide swaths of the U.S.
“Powerful storms that stretch from coast to coast will bring widespread areas of snow and blowing snow to low elevations in the West Coast and to the Great Lakes. Blizzard to near-blizzard conditions can be expected. Strong winds across the Southwest will keep fire weather threats critical in the South Plains. Thunderstorms, some severe, may produce localized flash flooding in the Midwest,” the NOAA said in an advisory this week.
According to FlightAware, close to 2,500 flights have been canceled, and another 3,200 have been delayed, on Wednesday alone. That includes 202 cancellations at Minneapolis/St. Paul, 123 at Denver International, 117 at Detroit Metro, and 68 at Chicago O’Hare.
Here is how airlines are reacting to the storm when it comes to weather waivers:
Delta Air Lines has issued a waiver for those with tickets in or out of various locations in Minnesota, including Bemidji, Brainerd, Duluth, Hibbing, International Falls, Minneapolis, and Rochester. Delta is allowing impacted passengers with travel through Feb. 24 to rebook for travel on or before in the same cabin of service with all fare differences waived.
On Wednesday alone, Delta had to cancel 530 flights out of those airports.
“Delta’s in-house meteorologists are actively reviewing and sharing up-to-date weather forecasts with others in the airline’s Operations and Customer Center as they make decisions on whether to cancel flights in the days ahead. Canceling flights is a last-resort decision that is never taken lightly. We strive to cancel flights well in advance of scheduled departure to allow our customers to adjust their plans before going to the airport,” Delta said this week.
American Airlines has its own waiver for travel out of airports in Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, and more (the full list can be seen here).
American is allowing rebooking for all tickets purchased by Feb. 19 as long as the ticket is rebooked in the same cabin and for travel by Feb. 27.
United, which has waived all change fees, will waive the difference in fare for flights in the Midwest through Wednesday, Feb. 19 as long as the travel was booked by Feb. 19 and the rebooking is for flights on or before Feb. 27.
United’s fare difference waivers include airports in the same states as American’s. United’s full list and other details can be found here.