Airlines warned of travel disruptions and scrapped date-change fees for travel several airports in the Southern U.S. as Hurricane Michael barreled toward the region.
Federal forecasters on Tuesday warned that Hurricane Michael was strengthening and could cause severe flooding along the Florida Panhandle and the Alabama coast as well as bring heavy rain through the Carolinas later this week.
Delta Air Lines capped fares and eliminated change fees for customers booked on Tuesday or Wednesday to or from Florida cities Pensacola, Panama City, Destin-Fort Walton Beach and Tallahassee as well as Mobile and Dothan in Alabama and Albany, Augusta and Valdosta, Georgia. That allows travelers to make a one-time change to their reservations if they can travel no later than Saturday. The airline said it capped at $299 one-way for coach tickets and $499 for seats in premium cabins for travel through Thursday.
American Airlines issued a similar fee waiver. Travelers will not have to pay a change fee if they travel after Saturday, but they could have to pay a difference in airfare.
Southwest Airlines does not charge customers a fee to change their travel dates but requires them to pay a difference in fare. Its customers who are booked in or out of 10 airports, including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest, can change their dates without paying a surcharge.
