Airlines Waive Change Fees as Winter Storm Kade Impacts Travel

As Winter Storm Kade continues to move east after dumping snow on the Rocky Mountains and areas of Texas and Oklahoma, the Midwest and Northeast are preparing for the travel disruptions plaguing the Plains.

According to Weather.com, the winter storm system is dumping snow from southeast New Mexico northeastward to Kansas and Missouri Wednesday morning, and the freezing rain, sleet and snow are expected to move into the Midwest and Northeast through Friday.

Travelers are being warned about flight disruptions and messy driving conditions from Texas to Maine in the coming days. Airlines have already started issuing travel advisories and waiving change fees as a result of Kade’s impact.

According to FlightAware.com, more than 240 flights within, into or out of the United States were canceled Wednesday, and another 290-plus have been delayed so far. The disruptions follow 2,300 delayed flights Tuesday, mostly in Dallas, Denver and Salt Lake City.

As a result, airlines such as American, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue and United continue to waive change fees for impacted travelers scheduled to fly through airports in Colorado, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah.

To be eligible, customers need to have purchased their ticket by February 3 for travel on or before February 5. Passengers who rebook their trips at no additional fee will have to choose another flight by February 8 or be forced to pay for the change.

Southwest Airlines has expanded its travel advisory to Chicago and Indianapolis for February 5-6, with impacted customers being permitted to rebook in the original class of service within 14 days of their original departure date.