Airline Weather Waivers Continue for Winter Storm ‘Diego’

Dec. 10, 2018

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6 min read

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The southeast region endured a treacherous load of snow and ice this past weekend from a strong winter storm, resulting in at least one weather-related death thus far. Flood alerts, wind advisories and other severe weather conditions have resulted in hundreds of delayed and canceled flights, among other problems. Parts of Texas and North Carolina have already received more snowfall in early December than Anchorage, Alaska. Lubbock, Texas, Asheville, North Carolina and Greensboro, North Carolina, each received more than 10 inches of snow over this past weekend.

The storm has been nicknamed "Diego" by The Weather Channel (although the National Weather Service insists that winter storms should not be named). Despite the destruction, flights are slowly getting back on track, after Sunday's more than 1,200 cancellations. As of 2pm ET Monday, FlightAware shows that the following airports have had cancellations or delays:

Charlotte (CLT): 189 outbound, 194 inbound cancellations; 42 outbound, 31 inbound delays
Raleigh-Durham (RDU): 38 outbound, 21 inbound cancellations; 61 outbound, 46 inbound delays
Richmond Intl (RIC): 27 outbound cancellations; 18 outbound, 11 inbound delays
Chicago Midway (MDW): 18 outbound, 20 inbound cancellations; 11 outbound, 13 inbound delays
Piedmont Triad Intl (GSO): 19 outbound, 12 inbound cancellations; 7 outbound, 5 inbound delays
Philadelphia (PHL): 6 outbound, 16 inbound cancellations; 37 outbound, 39 inbound delays

As of 2pm ET Monday, here are the travel waivers covering this storm:

Airports covered by at least one of the following alerts. Image generated by Great Circle Mapper.

Allegiant Air

Based on forecasted weather conditions, our scheduled service may be disrupted (flights may be delayed, diverted, and / or cancelled) to and from the following cities on the dates indicated below.
Travel date: December 8 - 10
Airports affected: Asheville, NC (AVL); Chattanooga, TN (CHA); Concord, NC (USA); Greensboro, NC (GSO); Greenville, SC (GSP); Knoxville, TN (TYS); Little Rock, AR (LIT); Memphis, TN (MEM); Nashville, TN (BNA); Northwest Arkansas (XNA); Oklahoma City (OKC); Raleigh Durham, NC (RDU); Roanoke, VA (ROA); Springfield, MO (SGF); Tri-Cities, TN (TRI); Tulsa, OK (TUL)

American Airlines

Southeastern US Severe Weather

Travel date: December 9 - 10
Airports affected: Asheville, North Carolina (AVL); Bristol / Johnson City / Kingsport, Tennessee (TRI); Charlotte, North Carolina (CLT); Greensboro / High Point, North Carolina (GSO); Greenville / Spartanburg, South Carolina (GSP); Knoxville, Tennessee (TYS); Lynchburg, Virginia (LYH); Raleigh / Durham, North Carolina (RDU); Roanoke, Virginia (ROA)
Must have purchased your ticket by December 6
Rebook travel anytime between December 6 - 15
You can’t change your origin or destination city. Must rebook in same cabin or pay the difference.
Avoid the phone queue. Changes available on both AA’s website and in the AA app.

Delta

Southeastern US Winter Weather

Travel dates: December 9 - 10
Airports covered: Asheville, NC (AVL); Charlotte, NC (CLT); Greensboro, NC (GSO); Greenville-Spartanburg, SC (GSP); Knoxville, TN (TYS); Raleigh-Durham, NC (RDU); Roanoke, VA (ROA); Tri-Cities, TN (TRI)
Ticket must be reissued on or before: December 15
Rebooked travel must begin no later than: December 15
When rescheduled travel occurs beyond December 15, the change fee will be waived. However, a difference in fare may apply. Final travel must be completed by end of ticket validity, one year from date of original issue.
If travel is not able to be rescheduled within these guidelines, customers may cancel their reservation and apply any unused value of the ticket toward the purchase of a new ticket for a period of one year from the original ticket issuance. Applicable change fee and fare difference will apply for new travel dates.

Frontier

Winter Weather System

Travel dates: December 10
Greenville/Spartanburg, SC (GSP); Charlotte, NC (CLT); Raleigh/Durham, NC (RDU)
Must have purchased ticket by December 9
Rebooked travel must be completed no later than: December 15
Customers who are ticketed to travel between December 08 and December 10, who purchased tickets on or before December 09, may make one itinerary change – rules/restrictions regarding standard change fees, advance purchase, day or time applications, blackouts, and minimum or maximum stay requirements will be waived.

JetBlue

Travel dates: December 9 - 10
Airports covered: Charlotte, NC, (CLT) and Raleigh-Durham, NC (RDU)
Must have purchased ticket by December 8
Customers may rebook their flights for travel through: December 13

Spirit

Travel dates: December 9 - 10
Airports covered: Asheville, NC (AVL) and Greensboro/Winston-Salem, NC (GSO)
Modification Charge/Fare Difference waived through: December 13
After this date, the modification charge is waived, but a fare difference may apply.

Southwest

Winter Storm Diego

Travel dates: December 10
Airports: Charlotte (CLT); Greenville-Spartanburg (GSP); Raleigh-Durham (RDU); Richmond (RIC)
Customers who are holding reservations to/from/through the cities 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 [Southwest's] accommodation procedures) without paying any additional charge.

United

Winter Storm Diego

Travel date: December 10
Airports covered: Asheville, NC (AVL); Charlotte, NC (CLT); Chattanooga, TN (CHA); Columbia, SC (CAE); Fayetteville, NC (FAY); Greensboro, NC (GSO); Greenville-Spartanburg, SC (GSP); Knoxville, TN (TYS); Raleigh, NC (RDU); Roanoke, VA (ROA)
The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new United flights departing on or before December 15, as long as travel is rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed.

Southeast Winter Weather

Travel date: December 9 - 10
Airports covered: Asheville, NC (AVL); Charlotte, NC (CLT); Chattanooga, TN (CHA); Columbia, SC (CAE); Fayetteville, NC (FAY); Greensboro, NC (GSO); Greenville-Spartanburg, SC (GSP); Knoxville, TN (TYS); Raleigh, NC (RDU); Roanoke, VA (ROA)
The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new United flights departing on or before December 15, as long as travel is rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed.

No waivers (yet) from: Alaska.

Protect Your Travels

This winter storm is another reminder to book flights with a card that offers solid trip delay and cancellation insurance. When senior points and miles writer JT Genter got stuck in Japan for four extra days due to a typhoon, the Citi Prestige trip delay protection reimbursed $1,000 of his expenses. Other cards with solid trip protection include the Chase Sapphire Reserve, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard and the Citi Premier® Card.