US Airlines Offer to Waive Fees Ahead of Big Winter Storm

Описание: US airlines are already announcing backup plans for passengers ahead of an expected winter storm this weekend that could be the biggest of the season and cause massive disruptions to air traffic nationwide. Delta Air Lines is offering rebooking for flights to and from 41 airports across the South and Southeast, including its main hub in Atlanta as well as Dallas, Austin, Houston, Charleston and Memphis. Passengers will be allowed to make new plans without paying a fare difference until Jan. 28, the airline said on its website. United Airlines will waive change fees and fare differences for flights impacted from 61 airports, including East Coast cities such as Boston, Newark and New York’s La Guardia. American Airlines has a travel alert for 34 airports in the South and Southwest, from Virginia to New Mexico, and said it will waive change fees on travel from Friday to Sunday as long as passengers don’t change their origin or destination. Low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines has similar rebooking options on its website. Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways also said they would waive fees for affected travelers. Bloomberg News Chief Correspondent for Global Aviation Siddharth Philip joins Bloomberg Businessweek Daily to discuss. He speaks with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec.

- A vast swath of the US — sweeping east from the Southern Rockies to the Mid-Atlantic and New England — is on alert for winter-storm conditions that could last days, disrupting travel and threatening blackouts. 
By Friday evening, a mix of freezing rain and snow is expected to arrive in Texas, raising the risk of widespread power outages from ice buildup and as electricity demand jumps to keep homes warm. Through the weekend, the storm will barrel toward the US Northeast, leaving a glaze of ice and sleet in its wake. 
At least 170 million people are in the areas likely to impacted, said Brian Hurley, a meteorologist for the Weather Prediction Center.
“It’s going to create a lot of inconvenience and hazard,” he said. 
Prices for electricity and natural gas — the No. 1 power-plant fuel also used for home heating — have already started to rally leading into the extreme conditions. There’s the potential for local disasters as heavy ice accumulations raise the chances of prolonged power outages that will cut some homes off from their source of heat. 

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