US airlines had been anticipating one of the busiest end-of-year seasons in decades, but their expectations could be severely affected with the advance of Winter Storm Elliot over the Midwest, Northeast and East Coast.
The US National Weather Service warned that “a powerful winter storm and arctic front will produce significant impacts including extreme cold, heavy snow, damaging winds and even heavy rain across much of the western two-thirds of the country over the holiday weekend,” adding that hazardous travel conditions are expected for many areas.
Faced with this situation, major US airlines have reported their contingency plans to cope with the situation in the best way for both passengers and their employees.
American Airlines said it has issued travel alerts for 86 airports in the Northeast, Midwest and parts of the East Coast, enabling passengers with flights affected by Winter Storm Elliot to rebook their tickets at no extra cost. This can be done through the airline’s app, at aa.com or by calling 800-433-7300 from the United States or Canada.
Delta Air Lines experienced a few cancellations on Wednesday, but nonetheless said deteriorating weather conditions mean they expect more flights to be cancelled in the coming days.
The company said it “the decision to cancel flights is never one Delta takes lightly, especially during the holiday travel season. But the safety of our customers and our people is paramount”. Travel alerts for each region can be viewed at these links: Pacific Northwest; Northwest Mountain; Atlantic and Northeast; Midwest and Central Plains.
United Airlines has issued travel alerts for 152 airports in its network in the affected regions, allowing passengers with tickets purchased by 18 December to fly between 20 and 25 December to rebook at no extra charge (minor date variations by region can be viewed at this link).
Southwest Airlines said they have had to cancel 500 of the 4,000 flights scheduled for Thursday 22 and Friday 23 December, mainly from Denver and Chicago Midway. A travel alert remains active for dozens of airports where they also offer the possibility of rebooking at no extra cost. The list and options can be viewed at this link.
Frontier Airlines has issued a travel alert for 38 airports in its network affected by Winter Storm Elliot for flights between 20 and 24 December. The conditions for rebooking (where no extra charges are made) can be found at this link.
The Transport Security Administration had reported on Monday that it expected to be close to pre-pandemic levels in terms of the volume of passengers passing through its checkpoints. The most congested days would be Thursday 22nd and Friday 30th.
