North Carolina Flights Canceled Ahead Of Hurricane Florence

CHARLOTTE, NC — Airlines have canceled hundreds flights ahead of Hurricane Florence, a massive Category 3 storm making a beeline for the Carolinas, and most airports along the coast suggested schedules would be reduced Wednesday. No flights are expected Thursday or Friday, including at South Carolina’s Charleston International Airport, USA Today reported. Flights there would wind down Wednesday and would not resume at least until Saturday.

American Airlines and United Airlines announced cancelations in North Carolina and South Carolina. Southwest suspended its operations Tuesday. Several airlines are allowing customers affected by the storm to switch their travel dates with no change fee.

Here's a breakdown of each airline:

American Airlines

Flight cancellations:

• Tuesday: 80 flights canceled
• Wednesday: 200 flights canceled
• Thursday: 185 flights canceled
• Friday: 90 flights canceled
• Saturday: 10 flights canceled

Airport operations:

North Carolina

• Asheville, North Carolina (AVL)
  • No impact to operations at this time
• Charlotte, North Carolina (CLT)
  • No impact to operations at this time
• Fayetteville, North Carolina (FAY)
  • Operations canceled beginning this evening through Sept. 15
• Greensboro / High Point, North Carolina (GSO)
  • No impact to operations at this time
• Greenville, North Carolina (PGV)
  • Operations canceled through Sept. 15
• Jacksonville, North Carolina (OAJ)
  • Operations canceled through Sept. 15
• New Bern, North Carolina (EWN)
  • Operations canceled through Sept. 15
• Raleigh / Durham, North Carolina (RDU)
  • Scattered cancelations are expected through Sept. 14
• Wilmington, North Carolina (ILM)
  • Operations canceled beginning this evening through Sept. 15

South Carolina

• Charleston, South Carolina (CHS)
  • Operations canceled beginning this evening through Sept. 14.
• Columbia, South Carolina (CAE)
  • Operations canceled beginning the evening of Sept. 13 through Sept. 15
• Florence, South Carolina (FLO)
  • Operations canceled beginning this evening through Sept. 15
• Greenville / Spartanburg, South Carolina (GSP)
  • No impact to operations at this time
• Hilton Head, South Carolina (HHH)
  • No impact to operations at this time
• Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (MYR)
  • Operations canceled beginning this evening through Sept. 15

Accomodations

For American airlines, passengers must have bought their tickets by Monday, Sept. 10, and their travel dates must be between Thursday and Sunday. Click here to see if your American Airlines trip is eligible to switch.

American Airlines travelers also must be traveling to, through or from the following airports:

• Asheville, North Carolina (AVL)
• Augusta, Georgia (AGS)
• Charleston, South Carolina (CHS)
• Charlotte, North Carolina (CLT)
• Charlottesville, Virginia (CHO)
• Columbia, South Carolina (CAE)
• Fayetteville, North Carolina (FAY)
• Florence, South Carolina (FLO)
• Greensboro / High Point, North Carolina (GSO)
• Greenville / Spartanburg, South Carolina (GSP)
• Greenville, North Carolina (PGV)
• Hampton / Newport News, Virginia (PHF)
• Hilton Head, South Carolina (HHH)
• Jacksonville, North Carolina (OAJ)
• Lynchburg, Virginia (LYH)
• Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (MYR)
• New Bern, North Carolina (EWN)
• Norfolk, Virginia (ORF)
• Raleigh / Durham, North Carolina (RDU)
• Richmond, Virginia (RIC)
• Roanoke, Virginia (ROA)
• Savannah, Georgia (SAV)
• Wilmington, North Carolina (ILM)

Southwest Airlines

Southwest canceled a total of 190 flights through Saturday morning, about one percent of its flight schedule.The airline suspended operations at noon Tuesday at Charleston International Airport (CHS) and has canceled all flights in and out of the airport through Friday night, a total of 49 canceled flights in/out of the airport between Tuesday and Saturday.

• At Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT), Southwest plans to suspend operations as of noon Thursday and have canceled all flights in and out of the airport through Friday night.
• At Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU), Southwest operations are suspended Thursday and Friday, resulting in 89 canceled flights in/out of the airport between Wednesday and Saturday.
• At Norfolk International Airport (ORF), Southwest operations are suspended Thursday and Friday, resulting in 20 canceled flights in/out of the airport between Wednesday and Saturday.
• At Richmond International Airport (RIC), Southwest operations are suspended beginning noon Thursday through early Saturday morning, resulting in seven canceled flights in/out of the airport.

According to the airline's policy, customers who want to change their travel dates can rebook in the original class of service or fly standby. The new flight must take place within two weeks of the original travel date and can only be between the original city pairs. Click here to change your Southwest Airlines flight.

Southwest said the offer is only applicable to fliers traveling between Wednesday, Sept. 12 and Sunday, Sept. 16. The following airports are affected:

• Charleston (CHS)
• Charlotte (CLT)
• Greenville-Spartanburg (GSP)
• Norfolk/Virginia Beach (ORF)
• Raleigh/Durham (RDU)
• Richmond (RIC)

Proactive cancelations are not currently expected for three airports Southwest serves in greater Washington, DC—Baltimore/Washington (BWI), Reagan National (DCA), and Washington Dulles (IAD).

Delta

Delta said Thursday it has canceled 150 flights total, including 70 Friday. The airline has put in place a severe weather waiver for cities stretching from Savannah, Georgia to Charlottesville, Virginia. The airline also waived checked baggage fees and pet-in-cabin fees in addition to capping fares on several markets in the storm’s path.

To qualify for the waiver, travelers must be flying between Tuesday and Sunday and the ticket must be reissued on or before Sept. 20. Those who reschedule beyond Sept. 20 could see a difference in fare apply.

Airports covered by the waiver include:

• Charleston, SC (CHS)
• Charlotte, NC (CLT)
• Charlottesville, VA (CHO)
• Columbia, SC (CAE)
• Fayetteville, NC (FAY)
• Greensboro, NC (GSO)
• Jacksonville, NC (OAJ)
• Myrtle Beach, SC (MYR)
• Norfolk, VA (ORF)
• New Bern, NC (EWN)
• Myrtle Beach, SC (MYR)
• Newport News, VA (PHF)
• Raleigh-Durham, NC (RDU)
• Richmond, VA (RIC)
• Roanoke, VA (ROA)
• Savannah, GA (SAV)
• Wilmington, NC (ILM)

This weather waiver allows customers traveling to, from or through the affected cities through Sept. 16, to make a one-time change to their travel plans without incurring a fee. As always, customers are encouraged to check Delta.com or the Fly Delta Mobile App for their latest flight status.

United Airlines

United is evaluating schedule changes and cancellations as it receives updated weather forecasts, local information on any airport or road closures, evacuation directives from local officials and other activities. The airline is in the early stages of implementing schedule reductions that have included the following:

• Wilmington, North Carolina (ILM) – United has cancelled flights to and from Wilmington starting at 1 p.m. local time Wednesday and into Saturday morning.
• Charleston, South Carolina (CHS) – Because of Charleston’s airport closure, beginning at midnight Wednesday, United will cancel flights to and from CHS on Thursday and Friday.
• Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (MYR) – United has cancelled all flights to and from Myrtle Beach on Thursday and Friday.
• Fayetteville, North Carolina (FAY) – United canceled all flights to and from Fayetteville on Thursday, Friday, and into the early Saturday morning hours.
• Raleigh, North Carolina (RDU) – United plans to continue normal operations to and from RDU into Thursday morning. It will continue to monitor weather conditions in the area, and make additional schedule determinations later on Wednesday.
  • United added a flight from Raleigh Durham to Chicago O’Hare that departed at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday. The airline reduced fares beyond what a regular last-minute fare would be for that flight.
• Washington Dulles (IAD) – United is currently not planning for any immediate issues or schedule disruptions at IAD, but is monitoring the area closely.

United has issued a waiver. The airline is offering a travel waiver for customers ticketed on flights to, from or through impacted cities through Sunday. Customers can reschedule their itineraries for travel through Sept. 20 with a one-time date or time change, and the airline will waive the change fees and any difference in fare for flights booked in the same cabin and same arrival/destination airports. United will waive first, second, excess, overweight and oversized baggage fees as well as in-cabin pet fees for all flights to/from the below cities:

• Asheville, North Carolina (AVL)
• Charleston, South Carolina (CHS)
• Charlotte, North Carolina (CLT)
• Charlottesville, Virginia (CHO)
• Columbia, South Carolina (CAE)
• Fayetteville, North Carolina (FAY)
• Greenville/Spartanburg, SC (GSP)
• Greensboro, North Carolina (GSO)
• Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (MYR)
• Norfolk, Virginia (ORF)
• Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina (RDU)
• Richmond, Virginia (RIC)
• Roanoke, Virginia (ROA)
• Savannah, Georgia (SAV)
• Shenandoah Valley Airport, Virginia (SHD)
• Wilmington, North Carolina (ILM)

The airline has also reduced fares beyond what a regular last-minute fare would be for impacted markets.

United is reaching out to customers with reservations during the forecasted impact time and rebooking them on alternate flights.

JetBlue

JetBlue told Patch it has issued fee waivers for customers traveling in an out of the area ahead of the storm. Customers can click here for details. JetBlue will waive change and cancel fees and fare differences for customers traveling from Thursday through Saturday to and from the following cities:

• Charleston, SC (CHS)
• Charlotte, NC (CLT)
• Raleigh/Durham, NC (RDU)
• Richmond, VA (RIC)

The company is also trying to keep fares at or below $149 to and from Charleston, South Carolina in an effort to help the community. Those fares will remain intact through Sunday.

Florence will likely make landfall Thursday morning somewhere in North Carolina, South Carolina or Virginia. Multiple states are bracing for the effects of the powerful and "extremely dangerous" storm, which rapidly strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane Monday with 140 mph winds. The storm is churning about 1,100 miles southeast of Cape Fear, North Carolina and is moving west-northwest at about 13 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

There is an "increasing risk" that the powerful storm could bring life-threatening effects to the Mid-Atlantic region, the hurricane center said. This includes coastal storm surge and flooding from prolonged heavy rainfall.

This is a developing story and Patch will update the airlines as they come in.

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