Travel

Airlines Waiving Change Fees for Passengers Traveling in Hurricane Dorian's Potential Path

Several airlines are giving travelers the option to change plans without penalty if they are flying through the potential path of Hurricane Dorian, and at least one major airport in Florida announced it would shut down as the storm edges closer.

Southwest Airlines is waiving change fees for customers flying to, from or through several Florida airports between Saturday and Wednesday, including Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach.

Southwest passengers travelling to Nassau, Bahamas, through Sunday can also change their plans.

(MORE: Hurricane Dorian Expected to Intensify and Poses a Growing Danger to Southeast U.S., Especially Florida)

American Airlines is offering waivers at more than a dozen Florida airports, including those listed above, for travelers on Monday or Tuesday.

The airline is also allowing flexibility for travel to the Bahamas through Saturday.

United is waiving change fees at many of the same Florida airports. Delta's list of airports with no change fees also includes Brunwick, Georgia, and Valdosta, Georgia.

Several other airlines also waived change fees, including Jet Blue and Frontier.

Each airline has its own rules, so travelers who want to change plans should contact their carrier directly.

Orlando International Airport will suspend commercial flight operations at 2 a.m. Monday. Officials at several of Florida's other airports said they were watching the storm closely.

At a Glance

Travelers to several Florida airports will be allowed to change plans without penalty.
Some airlines are also waiving change fees on flights to the Bahamas.
At least one airline is also applying the policy to some airports in Georgia.

A record 17.5 million people are expected to fly on U.S. airlines during the weeklong Labor Day travel period that runs from Aug. 28 to Sept. 3, according to industry trade group Airlines for America.

Several special events on tap for Florida over the already busy holiday weekend were expected to draw large crowds of tourists to the state, including the grand opening of Disney World's new Star Wars attraction in Orlando.

Rod Johnson, a spokesman for Orlando International Airport, said he didn't have exact numbers on how many people were supposed to fly through there this weekend. He said an increase of 6.5 percent was expected over last year's Labor Day holiday.

“But those predictions are probably pretty much moot now because of the storm,” Johnson said.