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Operational Update: Hurricane Florence and Tropical Storm Isaac

arucker
Adventurer B

Update at 2:00 p.m. CDT on September 14, 2018

Hurricane Florence:

Following the landfall of Hurricane Florence, our operational planners in our Network Operations Control (NOC) Center in Dallas are making plans to restart operations in Southwest Cities that experienced operational disruptions as a result of the storm. We're evolving our Customer accommodation policies, providing updates for Customers on Southwest.com.

 

  • At Charleston International Airport (CHS),  we intend to resume operations early Sunday morning.
  • At Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT), we intend to resume operations early Sunday morning.
  • At Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU), we intend to resume operations Saturday morning.
  • At Norfolk International Airport (ORF), we intend to resume operations Saturday morning.
  • At Richmond International Airport (RIC), we intend to resume operations Saturday afternoon.

We continue to ask Customers to check the status of their specific flights on Southwest.com and advise situational delays and additional cancelations are possible based on weather conditions on the ground and across the mid-Atlantic airspace.

 

We expect no operational disruption at the three airports we serve in greater Washington, DC—Baltimore/Washington (BWI), Reagan National (DCA), and Washington Dulles (IAD).

 

As of this update, a total 297 flights have been proactively canceled Tue-Sun this week attributable to Florence. As a baseline, we had more than 22,000 flights in the schedule for the same time period.

 

Update at 9:09 a.m. CDT on September 13, 2018

Hurricane Florence and Tropical Storm Isaac:

Travel this week to many of our East Coast destinations as well as Punta Cana and San Juan, Puerto Rico may be affected by Hurricane Florence and Tropical Storm Isaac. Based on forecaster weather conditions, Customers who are holding reservations to/from/through certain cities on the corresponding dates may rebook in the original class of service or travel standby (within 14 days of their original date of travel between the original city-pairs and in accordance with our accommodation procedures) without paying any additional charge.

 

For more information, visit our Travel Advisories on Southwest.com:

Yesterday, we met with our Dispatch and Meteorology Teams who are preparing our operation for the upcoming storms:

 

 

We also chatted with members of our Social Care Team to learn more about how they are helping our Customers make adjustments to their travel.

 

 

Efforts Underway
As a Company, we are committed to supporting organizations that focus on disaster preparedness and response. While we support these organizations year round, we’ve been in contact with our existing charitable partners, specifically the American Red CrossTeam RubiconAll Hands and Hearts, and AmeriCares who are preparing to assist in these areas (some are also helping with international), and we will continue to support them as they respond to help these communities. There is always a need for cash donations and their individual websites can be accessed by clicking on the links above.  

 

Our Team will continue to work to update flight statuses as the weather progresses, so please check back throughout the day for updates to your travel plans.

 

If you receive an error during the rebooking process, give us a call at 1-800-IFLYSWA for assistance.

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