Delta Issues Weather Waiver for Fortress Hub Atlanta — and Dozens of Other Cities

A gnarly winter storm is about to slam across chunks of the United States (the term “historic”) has been bandied about. Dozens of major and mid-major cities across the South, Midwest, and Southeast are affected — including Delta Air Lines’ fortress hub, Atlanta (ATL), which is also Earth’s busiest airport for passenger traffic.

Yikes. The storm is projected to get nasty on Friday. But now is the time to change travel plans to either leave early (like, today or tomorrow) or hunker down and stay a little longer. I know a family whose bucket-list trip was moved up by 2 days because they risked missing important events. Overseas. 

Delta issued a Weather Waiver for a bunch of destinations. Here are the affected airports:

• Alexandria, LA (AEX)
• Asheville, NC (AVL)
• Atlanta, GA (ATL)
• Austin, TX (AUS)
• Augusta, GA (AGS)
• Baton Rouge, LA (BTR)
• Birmingham, AL (BHM)
• Charleston, SC (CHS)
• Charlotte, NC (CLT)
• Chattanooga, TN (CHA)
• Columbia, SC (CAE)
• Columbus, GA (CSG)
• Columbus, MS (GTR)
• Dallas, TX (DAL)
• Dallas–Fort Worth, TX (DFW)
• Fayetteville–Springdale, AR (XNA)
• Fayetteville, NC (FAY)
• Greensboro, NC (GSO)
• Greenville–Spartanburg, NC (GSP)
• Houston Intercontinental, TX (IAH)
• Houston Hobby, TX (HOU)
• Huntsville, AL (HSV)
• Jackson, MS (JAN)
• Jacksonville, NC (OAJ)
• Knoxville, TN (TYS)
• Lafayette, LA (LFT)
• Little Rock, AR (LIT)
• Memphis, TN (MEM)
• Monroe, LA (MLU)
• Montgomery, AL (MGM)
• Myrtle Beach, SC (MYR)
• Nashville, TN (BNA)
• Oklahoma City, OK (OKC)
• Raleigh–Durham, NC (RDU)
• San Antonio, TX (SAT)
• Shreveport, LA (SHV)
• Springfield, MO (SGF)
• Tri-Cities, TN (TRI)
• Tulsa, OK (TUL)
• Wichita, KS (ICT)
• Wilmington, NC (ILM)

The affected travel dates are Friday, January 23, through Sunday, January 25. Tickets must be rebooked by Wednesday, January 28. Rebooked travel must commence no later than Wednesday, January 28, as well. Here’s the waiver’s official page on Delta.com.

Any applicable fare differences should be waived, provided you rebook in the originally ticketed cabin of service (i.e., Main Cabin Classic, Delta First Classic, etc.).

Be Proactive

If you’re concerned, you might want to start making flight changes now before the ticketing lines (phone and in-person) get especially busy.

Remember that airlines generally don’t pay for any expenses (hotels, meals, ground transport, etc.) if you’re delayed due to weather. I hope you booked with a credit card offering good trip delay coverage or you hold travel insurance. (Or both!)

Contact Delta Air Lines for Rebooking Help

If you have questions or need to rebook travel, contact Delta Air Lines directly (not “Delta Airlines”) or the provider through whom you originally purchased travel.

Delta Air Lines: 1-800-221-1212

You can also live message/chat with Delta.