Hurricane Michael: Airports Close; Airlines Cancel Flights

TAMPA BAY, FL – As Hurricane Michael continues moving toward the Florida Panhandle, the area's four airports announced they will cease all flights. Additionally, eight airlines are issuing travel waivers for Hurricane Michael, with Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest and United extending their waivers all the way to Atlanta International Airport.

On Tuesday 59 flights were canceled at impacted airports and 51 canceled for Wednesday — including 22 to and from Charlotte.

Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport was the first commercial airport to announce its closure, effective 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday. The Pensacola International Airport, Destin Executive Airport and Bob Sikes Airport will follow suit on at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

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The airports will remain closed until the hurricane has passed. Anyone with an airport-related emergency should call the Airport Operations Center at (850) 651-7166.

The closures come as airlines serving the airports announced flight cancellations. As of 10 a.m. Tuesday, 31 flights to and from the airports were canceled for Wednesday.

The Northwest Florida Beaches Airport in Panama City has canceled 17 flights to and from the airport for Tuesday and another 14 on Wednesday. The airport recommends travelers check flight status before heading to the airport.

American Airlines

American Airlines and its regional airline partners have canceled flights to and from Charlotte, North Carolina; Dallas, Texas; and Miami, Florida.

Allegiant Air

Allegiant Air has canceled 10 flights to and from Destin on Wednesday including flights from Pittsburgh; Cincinnati; Belleville, Illinois; Baltimore; and Newark. Allegiant also canceled four flights on Thursday.

Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines announced that it is suspending all Southwest flights from Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Additionally, Southwest will suspend flight operations on late Tuesday at Pensacola International Airport. Southwest plans to resume service at Pensacola airport on Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 10, local weather conditions permitting.

The airline is advising travelers who plan to fly this week to check the status of their flights before heading to the airport. Current travel conditions for Southwest customers in storm-affected cities can be viewed by clicking here.

The airlines said travelers can rebook in the original class of service or travel standby without paying any additional charge.

Southwest will continue to monitor the path of the storm and make any further schedule adjustments, if necessary.

Delta Air Lines

Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines has announced cancellations as well.

Delta will ferry aircraft normally scheduled to remain overnight in Tallahassee, Pensacola, Panama City and Destin – Fort Walton Beach back to Atlanta Tuesday night following the last scheduled arrivals before the four coastal airports close.

In addition to Panama City and Destin, Delta has also capped fares in Pensacola, Tallahassee and Mobile, Alabama at $299 in the main cabin and $499 in the forward cabin each way between Oct. 9-11.

Delta has also issued an expanded travel waiver to include the airports in Albany, Georgia; Augusta, Georgia; Dothan, Alabama; and Valdosta, Georgia that allows customers traveling through impacted markets free checked baggage, pet-in-cabin fees and the ability to make a one-time change to their travel plans without incurring a fee.

Teams in the airline’s Operations and Customer Center will continue to monitor for changes to weather forecasts and potential local infrastructure challenges following Michael’s impact to determine additional scheduling changes.

Customers are encouraged to check Delta.com or the Fly Delta Mobile App for their latest flight status.

Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines said customers who have tickets to travel between Tuesday and Thursday through Pensacola, Atlanta, Birmingham and Tampa will be permitted to revise their itinerary is they published tickets before Oct. 8. Restrictions regarding standard change fees, advance purchase, day or time applications, blackouts and minimum or maximum stay requirements will be waived.

Customers whose flights are cancelled may request a refund.

JetBlue

JetBlue is allowing customers to rebook their flights for travel to and from the Panhandle through Oct. 13 provided the reservations were made on or before Oct. 8.

Customers with cancelled flights may also opt for a refund to the original form of payment Customers can make the change online in the ‘Manage Flights’ section of jetblue.com or by calling 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583) prior to the departure time of their originally scheduled flight

United

United is canceling flights between Oct. 9-11 to Atlanta, Charleston, Columbia, South Carolina, Fort Walton Beach, Florida; Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina; Mobile, Alabama; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Panama City, Pensacola; and Savannah, Georgia.

The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new United flights departing between Oct. 8-18 as long as travel is rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed.

For rescheduled travel departing after Oct. 18, or for a change in departure or destination city, the change fee will be waived, but a difference in fare may apply. Rescheduled travel must be completed within one year from the date when the ticket was issued.

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