No United flights till Thursday at IAH
United Airlines decided Monday to close its hub at Bush Intercontinental Airport and suspend all operations from Houston until at least noon Thursday.
The carrier said it will offer travel waivers for customers ticketed on flights to, from or through impacted cities from last Friday through Sept. 5.
Customers may reschedule their travel through Sept. 20 with a one-time date or time change, and the airline will waive the change fees and any difference in fare for flights booked in the same cabin and same arrival/ destination airports, the airline said.
Southwest Airlines said its flights from Hobby Airport will be suspended at least through Tuesday. On Monday, it was working to secure flight crews to relocate the 10 aircraft on the ground at Hobby to other airports.
The weather also halted cruise passengers’ plans to depart Galveston. Carnival announced Monday that it is canceling three trips that originally were set to push
off Saturday and Sunday but had their departure dates postponed due to the weather.
The cruise line said Monday that Carnival Valor, Carnival Freedom and Carnival Breeze have been canceled altogether.
The company is offering ticketed passengers full refunds plus a 25 percent credit on a new reservation booked within 60 days.
Some 20,000 passengers on three Carnival and one Royal Caribbean ships were already in limbo when the liners were prevented from docking in Galveston.
The returning Carnival ships were forced to dock in New Orleans to replenish supplies, and guests will be able to disembark there and return home on their own or stay on the ship.
Thousands of passengers’ cars are waiting in lots on the low-lying side of the island.
Henry Harteveldt, founder of San Franciscobased Atmosphere Research Group, a travel industry research company, applauded United and Southwest for “working to minimize the impact of the Houston airports’ closures on their operations and passengers.”
But he added there is a growing backlog of people destined for Houston or beginning their flights from Houston who have been affected.
“All airlines that serve Houston will face an enormous burden to assist those customers once the area’s airports reopen,” Harteveldt wrote in an email.
Commercial service was suspended at both airports on Sunday because of deteriorating weather conditions resulting from Hurricane Harvey.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a notice saying Bush Intercontinental Airport is expected to be closed until noon Thursday, though the city of Houston has the ultimate say on how long the airport will be closed.
The FAA notice regarding Hobby Airport said it is likely to be closed until 8 a.m. Wednesday.
If the city is ready to resume operations before then, the FAA will remove its notice, spokesman Lynn Lunsford said.
The airports will open when the weather clears, personnel can get to the airport to support flights, and roadways are no longer flooded so passengers can safely get to and from the airport, Houston Airport System spokesman Bill Begley said.
“We’re not going to put a deadline on this,” he said. “It’s going to be when it’s safe for everyone.”