U.S. carriers have issued travel waivers amid unrest in Venezuela beginning early Saturday morning, with the United States filing NOTAMs prohibiting commercial aircraft from flying over Venezuelan and Caribbean airspace.
With the NOTAMs issued, flights to and from many Caribbean destinations are unable to operate and thus have been cancelled. The airspace closure is expected to remain throughout the day on Saturday.
The airspace closure and its operational effects hit some of the busiest travel periods of the year, as passengers in leisure destinations in the Caribbean look to return home after the New Year’s holidays.
American Airlines notes the following airports to be affected by today’s airspace closure:
American Airlines passengers flying to, through, and from the above destinations on Jan. 3 and Jan. 4 are able to change their ticket without penalty, including those booked in Basic Economy. The new ticket must be no later than Jan. 9.
United Airlines has posted a similar travel waiver for the following destinations, with the only difference being that the new ticket must be no later than Jan. 13.
JetBlue’s travel waiver applies to passengers flying to and from the following destinations. The new ticket must be no later than Jan. 10.
Delta Air Lines stated that it is “…cancelling flights in compliance with FAA airspace closures in the Caribbean. As cancellations are processed, customers will be notified via the Fly Delta app and contact information listed in their reservation.”
Cancellations have flooded airports affected by the airspace closure. The following is a look at the departure board for San Juan:
Airlines will have a full day’s worth of passengers to rebook onto other flights on the following days. The FAA airspace closure leaves passengers stranded at their origin, and airlines will have to tackle this challenge in an already busy environment of holiday travel.
Featured image by the author.
