The United States is expected to be hit by a severe winter storm this week. Consequently, the three largest American carriers and other airlines operating to and from the country have decided to waive the typical fees and charges associated with rebookings. Let's have a closer look at the details of the story.
Travel waivers to limit the impact of winter storms
Christmas is just around the corner, and millions of Americans are expected to board a flight during Christmas week. Between December 18th and December 26th, 28.8 million passengers are forecasted to depart from US airports. This is 4% more than the pre-pandemic figures and 18% more than last year's winter holiday traffic.
However, this week, a severe winter storm is expected to hit the US. Particularly, widespread dangerous wind chill temperatures are forecasted through a good part of the central US, with a potential flash freeze covering the Mid-South to the East Coast. These severe weather conditions will form a winter storm, characterized by heavy snow and high winds creating the perfect blizzard conditions.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the winter storm should hit the north-central US starting Wednesday night. Cities such as Buffalo, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Chicago will face potential blizzard conditions and strong winds. Notably, the NWS warned of possible low visibility and snow that will make travel particularly hard in Chicago, with strong winds potentially causing power outages. Additionally, the area around Dallas Forth-Worth is expected to record below-zero temperatures and icy winds.
Aware of the potential disruptions caused by such nasty weather and large passenger numbers, US carriers have decided to waive the typical rebooking fares to encourage flexible travelers to change their travel planes. The three largest US carriers, American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines, have introduced the waivers, and other carriers, such as Southwest and Frontier, have followed suit.
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The details of the waivers
Although the winter storm is expected to hit a good portion of the country, the waivers do not apply to all flights unconditionally. Notably, waivers for rebooking fees are offered on those flights departing from airports that are expected to be hit by particularly severe weather.
Alaska Airlines, for instance, offers waivers only on flights to and from Chicago. On the other hand, American Airlines has waivers for customers transiting or departing from 30 airports in the Midwest and another 30 in the Northwest. Delta Air Lines offers waivers for flights departing from 13 airports in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. Southwest Airlines has introduced a "Rocky Mountain and Midwest Winter Weather" for more than a dozen airports and a Northwest waiver.
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Spirit Airlines offers waivers for flights to six Midwest airports and 11 Northwest airports. Lastly, United Airlines has introduced waivers for passengers flying to and from different regions, including the East Coast, Midwest, Central and Northwest US, and Texas.
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Source: Axios