Airlines offer waivers ahead of expected bomb cyclone storm

Delta, American and other U.S. airlines hope to avoid holiday turbulence by offering travel waivers ahead of the wicked weather.

A “bomb cyclone” storm is set to descend upon the Midwest, East Coast and other regions, and the ensuing snow, wind and other treacherous elements are predicted to cause flight delays and cancellations this week.

Delta, American Airlines and United Airlines are among the carriers that will waive change fees for flights out of airports expected to be affected.

Different areas come with different guidelines for Delta, whose offers include waivers for flights between Thursday and Saturday out of LaGuardia, JFK Airport and Newark. Tickets for trips out of those airports must be re-issued and scheduled to depart by next Tuesday, the airline says.

“Winter weather is expected to impact travel across the United States this week as a weather system moves from the Pacific Northwest, across the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley and finally into the Northeast and New England,” Delta said Tuesday.

“Delta’s Operations and Customer Center expects that conditions will unfortunately necessitate flight cancellations this week.”

American said passengers may be able to change their flights without a fee if they purchased a ticket by Tuesday Dec. 20 and are scheduled to depart by Jan. 3.

Southwest issued waivers for flights out of dozens of cities, including New York, through Monday, while United offered different waivers for flights out of Texas, the Midwest, the East Coast, and the Central and Northwest U.S., according to CNN.

Nearly 113 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles for the holidays this year, up 4% from last year, according to the American Automobile Association. About 6% of those travelers are expected to do so by flying, AAA said.

With News Wire Services