Southwest Airlines is the first airline to waive change fees as Hurricane Michael approaches the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Now a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, Michael could achieve Category 3 status this week before making landfall along the Florida Panhandle late Wednesday or early Thursday.
In anticipation of travel impacts, Southwest has implemented a flexible rebooking policy for customers scheduled to fly to or from several cities in the storm's path this week, including New Orleans, Panama City, Florida and Pensacola, Florida Tuesday through Thursday.
The waiver also covers passengers traveling to or from Cancun, Mexico and Havana, Cuba through Tuesday.
"Customers who are holding reservations to/from/through the cities listed above on the corresponding dates may rebook in the original class of service or travel standby (within 14 days of their original date of travel between the original city-pairs and in accordance with our accommodation procedures) without paying any additional charge," the airline's website stated.
Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines issued its own travel waiver Monday afternoon for travelers passing through Mobile, Alabama; Fort Walton Beach, Florida; Panama City, Florida; Pensacola, Florida and Tallahassee, Florida Tuesday and Wednesday.
"If you wish to cancel your trip as a result of a flight cancellation or significant delay (90 minutes or more), you are entitled to a refund for the unused portion of your ticket. Even if your flight is not canceled, you may make a one-time change to your ticket without fee if you are scheduled to travel to, from, or through the following destination(s) on Delta, Delta Connection, or Delta-coded flights during the specified time periods listed below," Delta said on its website.
It's likely that other major carriers operating flights to and from the Gulf Coast and Southeast will follow Southwest's lead and begin waiving change fees as the storm gets closer.
Weather models show Michael eventually tracking into Georgia and the Carolinas, which could potentially create travel headaches in Atlanta, Charlotte and other busy airports as well depending on the storm's strength at that point.
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