Tropical Storm Barry causes some airlines to extend travel waivers to fliers
The looming threat of Tropical Storm Barry, which was churning toward the U.S. on Thursday, has prompted several U.S. airlines to offer travel waivers to people flying into or through airports situated near the Gulf coast.
The offer extended to fliers from five airlines – American, Alaska, Delta, Southwest and United – pertains to nearly 20 airports that are located from Texas to Florida.
Unlike Southwest and Alaska, United has not extended a travel waiver for Houston. All three of the airlines have hubs in Houston-based airports. A spokesman for United told Fox News that the airline could see significant impacts throughout the weekend if the storms shifts west, but it will make every attempt to minimize that impact if necessary.
As of Thursday, none of the airlines had canceled flights as a preventative measure. Each airline told Fox News that they are actively watching the storm and that the situation could be subject to change.
Tropical Storm Barry is located about 90 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River and had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Thursday in their 5 p.m. EST advisory.
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The storm could strengthen into a hurricane by late Friday or early Saturday when its center is close to the coast of Louisiana, the NHC said.
Fox News’ David McAlpine contributed to this report.