A flyover is being planned during the Army’s 250th Anniversary Celebration, which is also President Trump’s 79th birthday. The Department of Defense and the FAA have worked on plans, which include halting operations at Washington Reagan National Airport that night.
This closure is expected to last several hours on Saturday night from 18:30 to about 21:30, which the FAA expects will disrupt about 100 flights. This is some of the busiest and most constrained airspace in the country, and has gotten mainstream attention following a fatal crash between an American Airlines regional jet and a Blackhawk helicopter earlier this year.
Some airlines have issued travel waivers, giving passengers flying on that day options to reroute and reschedule their plans.
American Airlines
Passengers on American Airlines flying on June 14 can have their change fee waived as long as their ticket was bought by June 5 and can travel anytime between June 6 and 16. This includes Basic Economy customers.
These changes must be booked by June 14, the day of travel.
United Airlines
United passengers flying on June 14 and June 15 are eligible for a travel waiver. Tickets must have been purchased by June 5, and the new flight must be between June 13 and June 15. Change fees and fare differences will be waived.
Baltimore and Dulles are listed as alternate airport options if travelers would like to reroute away from DCA.
Other Airlines
As of now, 18:15 on Friday the 6th, I don’t see any travel waivers from other airlines, including Delta, Southwest, and JetBlue. I’ll keep an eye on them and update this as we go. I expect some form of travel waiver from them eventually.
I would say that passengers flying in and out in the morning hours on June 14 are probably good to go. Midday hours should be fine too, but I would definitely reconsider plans if you’re flying in the later afternoon and evening hours. I don’t think too many of these flights will end up cancelled, but I can see many of them departing much later in the night (I’m talking midnight hours). Remember, it’s not like all of these affected flights can take off at once after the closure. There will be long lines of airplanes and a lot of congestion as DCA tries to recover that night.
Featured image by the author.
