Airlines Ponder Moves in Wake of European Travel Ban

Airlines are scrambling this morning in the wake of President Trump’s announcement Wednesday night enacting a 30-day travel ban on flights from 26 European countries to the U.S. to stem the growth of the COVID-19 virus.

Delta Air Lines was the first to react, announcing it will waive change fees for passengers traveling to, from or through Europe and the United Kingdom – which was not one of the countries included in the ban – through May 31.

The ban begins Friday, March 13 at midnight.

American citizens are able to fly to the U.S. from Europe but must pass a screening.

Delta said additional details are available on its website.

“The safety and health of our customers and employees is always our highest priority. Delta has and will continue to quickly make adjustments to service, as needed, in response to government travel directives. Details will be shared this week,” the company said in a statement.

As for United and American, covid-19-travel-ban-what-to-do-if-you-booked-a-flight-to-europe-on-delta-aa-or-united” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow noopener noreferrer”>Fast Company is reporting that neither had concrete details as of Thursday morning.

A spokesperson for United said, “At this point, all we can say is that we will comply with the administration’s announcement.”

Reached for comment, an American Airlines spokesperson referred the magazine to an announcement on its website stating new entry requirements that will go into effect on March 13, 2020, after 11:59 p.m. ET.

“Any U.S. citizen or lawful U.S. permanent resident returning to the United States who has traveled to one of the Schengen Area countries within the previous 14 days must enter the United States through an approved airport. American Airlines customers will be rebooked, if necessary, to one of those approved airports by our Reservations and Airport teams.”