In this aerial view taken from a helicopter, houses burned during the Palisades Fire in the Malibu area of Los Angeles County, California, on January 9, 2025.
Josh Edelson | afp | fake images
Airlines have extended travel waivers for Los Angeles airports as wildfires continue to burn in the area.
american airlines, united airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways and other airlines serving the area have waived flight change fees for travelers booked to Los Angeles as the city grapples with power outages, water and conservation shortages, as well as direct damage to more than 10,000 homes and other structures.
On Friday, area airports were operating normally, according to flight tracking platform FlightAware, but parts of the city were still in the grip of wildfires. Power outages were reported throughout Los Angeles County and local residents in the decimated Pacific Palisades area were asked to boil or use bottled water. Parts of the county were also still under evacuation orders as firefighters attempted to contain the fires.
American Airlines said Friday that travelers who booked to or from Hollywood Burbank Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Ontario International Airport and John Wayne Airport, which serves Orange County, can rebook without paying a change fee or fare difference if they can fly until January. 20.
Southwest said the wildfires could impact service to those airports and that customers can rebook within 14 days of their original travel dates without additional charges. He said customers could also shift their trips to other California cities: Palm Springs, Santa Barbara and San Diego.
Meanwhile, a Delta Airlines The executive said Friday that sales of flights to Los Angeles, one of the airline's busiest hubs and a generator of high-value business and leisure trips, have declined.
“We monitor sales daily by geographic region, and we have seen a decline in sales, not a wholesale reduction or an increase in cancellations, but a decline in sales during this period,” Delta President Glen Hauenstein said in an earnings call, in which the airline also said it otherwise had strong travel demand across its network. “As soon as the period ends, we can probably determine how much we think it cost us. But I don't think it's going to be significant for the quarter, hopefully not.”
Hauenstein said, however, that there is often an increase in demand after natural disasters due to reconstruction.
“Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this in Los Angeles,” he said. “But from a long-term airline perspective, we face hurricanes, we face flooding, we face all of that. And typically the impacts are in the initial phases, followed by a recovery phase.”
