Thomson Reuters
A Delta Airlines jet takes off from Washington National Airport in Washington
As a "cold-weather bomb" bears down on the East Coast, the entire eastern seaboard is preparing for heavy snowfall and record-breaking cold. While the forecast will narrow in the next few days as we see how the storm tracks, it's already a good time to start preparing.
Winter weather advisories have been issued all the way up the coast from Florida to Maine, but it's looking more like the mid-Atlantic and Northeast will face the brunt of the "bombogenesis" storm.
As the storm approaches, airlines have already begun planning for inevitable delays and flight cancellations. Delta was the first airline to offer reaccommodation due to the storm, though other airlines will likely follow soon.
Delta announced that it was issuing a travel waiver for January 3-4 in the mid-Atlantic. If you're flying into or out of one of the listed affected airports, Delta will let you change your flight to anything scheduled by January 7th without a fee. You can also fly after January 7th and have the change fee waived, but you may have to pay the difference in fares. If you can't reschedule your trip, you can cancel it altogether in exchange for a voucher for the unused value of your original ticket, which can be put towards another trip within a year.
Currently, the affected cities and airports covered by Delta's
- Allentown, PA (ABE)
- Baltimore, MD (BWI)
- Harrisburg, PA (MDT)
- Newport News, VA (PHF)
- Norfolk, VA (ORF)
- Philadelphia, PA (PHL)
- Scranton, PA (AVP)
- Washington-Dulles, VA (IAD)
- Washington-Reagan, VA (DCA)
As the forecast continues to evolve, look for other airports to be added to the list, and for other airlines to issue their own travel waivers.