Airlines Issue Flight Waivers As Winter Storm Kassandra Brings Major Snowfall Across the U.S.

Delta, JetBlue, and United have issued travel waivers this week amid the snowy conditions.

A car is towed by a tow truck amid heavy snow fall at Norman, Oklahoma during Winter Storm Kassandra
Photo:

Tharaka Basnayaka/Getty Images

A new winter storm has dumped up to a foot of snow in some areas across the south, bringing travel disruptions and airline alerts in its wake.

Winter storm Kassandra dropped as much as a foot of snow in northern Arkansas on Tuesday with another 7.2 inches measured in Lubbock, TX, according to The Weather Channel. But the storm isn’t done yet and is expected to track into the eastern Great Lakes and move into the Northeast, according to the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center. Snow is expected to peak in the interior Northeast starting Wednesday afternoon and fall at a rate of 1 to 2 inches per hour.

“A winter storm will produce a swath of heavy snow from the Middle Mississippi Valley & Great Lakes this morning to the Northeast this afternoon,” the NWS tweeted. “An icy wintry mix is also expected for portions of the Interior Northeast. Hazardous travel conditions are likely in impacted areas.”

Several airlines have issued travel alerts due to the storm, waiving fees to rebook tickets. Delta Air Lines issued a travel waiver for the Midwest and central plains for travel through Thursday, while United Airlines issued its own waiver for more than two dozen cities in the central part of the country. 

Similarly, JetBlue issued a waiver for travel to and from Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, and Kansas City for travel through Wednesday; American Airlines issued a waiver for travel to and from dozens of cities through Thursday; and Southwest issued a waiver for travel to and from cities across the Midwest, South, and Northeast.

While the storm is sure to bring messy travel conditions across the country, it will also bring much-needed snow to ski resorts that have been desperate for fresh powder.

In Vermont, the Okemo Ski Resort was expecting six to 10 inches to fall on Wednesday night.

“For us here at Okemo, we welcome it with open arms because it just means more trails and better conditions,” the mountain wrote in its snow report on Wednesday. “The countdown to 100% of trails opens [begins] as we are now at 105 trails out of 122 trails open.”

And in New York’s Catskill Mountains, Windham Mountain was expecting three to five inches of snow to help freshen up the terrain.

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