Editor’s note: This post is being continuously updated as new information becomes available. It was originally published on Feb. 29, 2020.
Airlines are being hit hard as the novel coronavirus disease known as COVID-19 spreads across the globe.
Carriers flying to Asia bore the initial brunt of the fallout, but now that the virus has spread to other continents – including Europe and North America – airlines have canceled flights and rolled out change-fee waivers as they’ve tried to keep up with the quickly evolving situation.
American and Delta became the latest U.S. carriers to modify their schedules because of the virus, announcing during the weekend that service to Milan would be curtailed. American is halting all of its service to Milan through April 25. Delta will end its service between New York-JFK and Milan starting Monday, but its service between Atlanta and Milan will continue to operate — at least for now. Delta’s Milan service from JFK is currently expected to restart May 1.
Here are the latest waivers and cancellations currently in place at U.S. airlines. This post will be regularly updated with new information. (Last update: March 8, 2020)
Flight waivers in place at US carriers
Alaska Airlines
Alaska is waiving change and cancellation fees on all flights in its network for travel booked between Feb. 27 and March 12. All changes must be made by March 12, and passengers will receive credit for future travel, with one year to use it from the date the credit is issued.
Allegiant Air
Allegiant is allowing customers a one-time change to their travel plans without incurring change or cancellation fees. This waiver applies to both new and existing bookings. Allegiant has not specified an end date for the waiver.
American Airlines
On March 5, American extended its blanket waiver. The new policy does away with change fees for any travel booked between March 5 and March 31. Those who booked between March 1 and March 4 are covered by the previous policy, which waives fees on travel so long as changes are made no later than 14 days prior to travel. In addition, the following waivers remain in effect:
Italy: You may be eligible for a one-time fee-free trip change or cancellation. The waiver covers flights booked by Feb. 27, for travel from Feb. 27 through March 15. Altered travel must be booked by March 15 and completed within one year of the original ticket dates.
China (Beijing and Shanghai): You may be eligible for a one-time fee-free trip change or cancellation. The waiver covers flights booked by Jan. 24, for travel from Jan. 24 through April 24. Altered travel must be booked by April 24 and completed within one year of the original ticket dates. Passengers to or from Beijing and Shanghai can also change their destination or origin to Tokyo.
China (Wuhan): Your trip is eligible for no-fee cancellation if you bought your ticket before Jan. 23 and you’re scheduled to travel between Jan. 23 and March 31.
Hong Kong: You may be eligible for a one-time fee-free trip change or cancellation. The waiver covers flights booked by Jan. 28, for travel from Jan. 28 through April 24. Altered travel must be booked by April 24 and completed within one year of the original ticket dates. Passengers to or from Hong Kong can also change their destination or origin to Tokyo.
South Korea: You may be eligible for a one-time fee-free trip change or cancellation. The waiver covers flights booked by Feb. 24, for travel from Feb. 24 through April 24. Altered travel must be booked by April 24 and completed within one year of the original ticket dates. Passengers to or from Seoul can also change their destination or origin to Tokyo.
More information about American’s location-specific coronavirus waivers is available on its website.
Delta Air Lines
Delta issued a blanket waiver for all tickets, allowing passengers who booked travel between March 1 and March 31 change their itinerary one time for no fee. Any travel between March 1, 2020 and Feb. 25, 2021 is covered by the waiver, so long as it was booked in the specified date range. Rebooked tickets must be issued by Feb. 28, 2021 and travel must begin by that date. The following location-specific waivers also remain in effect:
Italy: You may be eligible for a one-time fee-free trip change or cancellation. The waiver covers travel on flights from Feb. 25 through March 15. Altered travel must be booked by March 15 and must begin by April 3.
China and South Korea: You may be eligible for a one-time fee-free trip change or cancellation. The waiver covers travel on flights from Jan. 24 through April 30. Altered travel must be booked and begin by May 31.
More information about Delta’s waivers is available on its website.
Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian has issued a blanket waiver, allowing all travelers who book flights between March 1 and March 31 to change the itineraries one time for no fee.
More information about Hawaiian’s coronavirus waivers for Japan, South Korea and China is available on its website. The airline’s waiver policies for those countries are each slightly different.
JetBlue
JetBlue is waiving change and cancellation fees on new flights booked between Feb. 27 and March 11. Customers who cancel their flights will be issued a credit.
United Airlines
United will waive change fees on all new bookings made between March 3 and March 31. The updated itinerary must take place within 12 months of the originally booked travel dates, and passengers will be responsible to pay any fare differences. Those who decide to cancel their travel will be issued a voucher for the original value of the tickets, valid for 12 months from the original ticket issue date. The following location-specific waivers are also in effect:
Italy: You may be eligible for a one-time fee-free trip change if you are traveling to or from cities in northern Italy. The waiver covers flights booked by Feb. 26, for travel from Feb. 27 through April 30. Altered travel must completed within one year of the original ticket dates.
China (Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai): You may be eligible for a one-time fee-free trip change or cancellation. The waiver covers flights booked by Feb. 12, for travel from Jan. 24 through April 30. Wholly rescheduled travel must completed within one year of the original ticket dates. Un-flown flights can be refunded.
China (Wuhan): Un-flown segments of your trip are eligible for no-fee cancellation if you bought your ticket by Jan. 21 and you’re scheduled to travel between Jan. 22 and March 29.
Hong Kong: You may be eligible for a one-time fee-free trip change or cancellation. The waiver covers flights booked by Feb. 12, for travel from Jan. 28 through April 30. Wholly rescheduled travel must completed within one year of the original ticket dates. Un-flown flights can be refunded.
South Korea: You may be eligible for a one-time fee-free trip change or cancellation. The waiver covers flights booked by Feb. 23, for travel from Feb. 24 through June 30. Wholly rescheduled travel must be completed within one year of the original ticket dates. Un-flown flights can be refunded.
More information about United’s coronavirus waivers is available on its website.
Flight suspensions and cancellations made by US carriers because of coronavirus
American Airlines
South Korea: Beginning March 4, flights between DFW and Seoul will be suspended until April 25. AA only serves Seoul from DFW, so the airline is effectively ending flights to that airport until the service resumes.
China: Flights between DFW/LAX and mainland China are suspended through April 24.
Hong Kong: Flights between DFW and Hong Kong (HKG) are suspended through April 23, and through April 24 for those to and from LAX.
Italy: American has suspended its service between New York-JFK and Milan (MXP) from March 1 until April 25.
More information about American’s coronavirus-related flight cancellations is available on the airline’s website.
Delta Air Lines
Japan: Delta is reducing its schedule between a number of U.S. cities and destinations in Japan. Daily flights between Tokyo and Detroit, Los Angeles, Honolulu and Seattle maintain their schedule, but the following reductions are in effect on other routes:
- Tokyo-Portland goes to 3x weekly
- Tokyo-Atlanta goes to 5x weekly
- Tokyo-Minneapolis goes to 5x weekly
- Nagoya-Detroit goes to 3x weekly
- Nagoya-Honolulu goes to 3x weekly
- Osaka-Seattle seasonal summer service is suspended for 2020
- Osaka-Honolulu goes to 3x weekly
Tokyo-Manila service will also end on March 27 as part of Delta’s planned consolidation at Haneda airport. Delta will begin service between Manila and Seoul on May 1 (previously scheduled for March 29).
Italy: Delta has severely limited its schedule between March 11 and April 30, suspending all routes between the U.S. and Italy during that period except for a five-times weekly service between New York-JFK and Rome. The airline has also delayed its seasonal service between JFK and Venice, which will now begin on May 1 instead of April 1. Similarly, seasonal service between Detroit and Rome was also set to begin April 1 and has been delayed until May 1.
China: Suspended until April 30.
South Korea: Minneapolis/St. Paul flights suspended through April 30; flights between Seoul and Atlanta, Detroit and Seattle are reduced to five times weekly through April 30.
United Airlines
The airline announced on March 4 that it would cut 20% of its international flights and 10% of its domestic flights. The following route changes also remain in effect:
China (Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai): Suspended through April 30.
Hong Kong: Suspended through April 30.
Japan: Flights between Tokyo-Narita and Los Angeles and Houston are canceled March 8 through April 24. Flights between Chicago and Narita are canceled March 8 through March 27. (Chicago flights will serve Tokyo-Haneda beginning March 28.) Flights between Narita and Newark are reduced to five-times weekly in April. Flights between San Francisco and Kansai are reduced to five-times weekly in April.
Singapore: Flights from San Francisco reduced to once daily March 8-April 24.
South Korea: Flights between San Francisco and Seoul are reduced to three-times weekly March 8 through April 30.
Hawaiian Airlines
South Korea: Flights between Honolulu and Seoul suspended between March 2 and April 30.
Japan: Hawaiian is consolidating its Japan schedule beginning March 28. Service between Kona and Tokyo-Haneda will be suspended from that date until May 1. The airline’s Tokyo service will be moved entirely to a daily service to and from Honolulu, on a slightly adjusted schedule.
JetBlue
The airline announced it would cut capacity on some routes, including many within the U.S. Details of the cuts will be posted when they’re revealed.
Additional reporting by Benji Stawski.
Featured photo by Zach Griff/The Points Guy.
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