Milton: Airlines Begin Issuing Alerts As Storm Aims For Florida

A week after Hurricane Helene cut a path of death and destruction across the Southeast, another potentially dangerous storm is heading for the Sunshine State.

Tropical Storm Milton—currently traveling northeast at 3 m.p.h. across the Gulf of Mexico with sustained wind speeds of 40 m.p.h.—is making its way for Florida’s west coast and expected to make landfall midweek as a hurricane.

“Milton is forecast to remain over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico through Sunday night, then move across the south-central Gulf of Mexico on Monday and Tuesday, and approach the west coast of the Florida Peninsula by midweek,” the hurricane center’s 5 p.m. ET advisory said. “Milton is forecast to become a hurricane Sunday night, and it could become a major hurricane while it moves across the central and eastern Gulf of Mexico.”

The Department of Transportation requires all airlines to offer customers a refund if their flights are canceled or significantly delayed due to reasons within the airline’s control. But that rule does not pertain to weather-related delays and cancellations.

Tropical Storm Milton: Airline Travel Advisories

In advance of the storm making landfall, one major U.S. airline is already issuing travel waivers allowing passengers flying in or out of impacted airports to rebook without paying the fare difference. For consumers looking to change travel plans or recoup travel expenses, much will depend upon the airline, itinerary and, in some cases, whether a travel insurance policy was purchased.

United Airlines has issued a travel alert impacting five Florida airports. Passengers who bought a plane ticket before Friday, October 4, for a flight traveling Monday through Thursday, October 7-10, to, from or through any of the listed airports may rebook without a change fee for travel through Thursday, October 17.

(Other airlines will issue alerts closer to when the storm makes landfall.)

Tropical Storm Milton: How To Avoid Flight Disruptions This Week

Flying this week? There’s a lot you can do to minimize the chance of getting mired down by a delayed or canceled flight.

Most flight disruptions are caused by weather issues. Up to three days ahead of your flight, you can get a heads-up on potential trouble by referring to NOAA’s National Forecast Map. Hover over Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 to see what to expect for weather today, tomorrow and the next day. It shows you at a glance where there is going to be rain, thunderstorms, and other kinds of severe weather on your travel day.

Arming yourself with this information allows you to switch dates or routes to tee up a better scenario. Perhaps you can travel a day earlier or later, or change a connecting flight to avoid trouble spots.

Even if you’re not traveling through Florida this week, your flight may be impacted. Weather events in one part of the country can cause disruptions throughout the country because airlines reuse planes for multiple flights each day. Planes that get delayed on previous routes often don’t make it to their late-day departure airport on time. For example, a plane stuck in Orlando at 1 p.m. may not make it to Chicago for its 4:15 p.m. departure. There’s a domino effect, where one delay leads to another.

Whenever possible, book the earliest flight of the day to minimize the chance of disruption. Afternoon and evening flights are more likely to be delayed than early-morning flights.

On the day of your flight, monitor your airline’s app for flight notifications. On the flight-tracking app FlightAware, enter your flight information, and click on your specific flight. Then click the “Where is my plane now?” link just under the flight number. You’ll be able to see if the plane is ahead of schedule, on time or behind schedule and you can act accordingly — often even before the airline announces a delay or cancellation.