A total of 2,632 flights have been cancelled in the US today as Florida braces for Hurricane Milton.
Milton was initially feared to be a category five storm, however, it has since been downgraded to category three. The National Hurricane Centre has predicted it will be “one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida”.
Officials have urged people in the area to evacuate, as rain, tornadoes and storm surge lash Florida ahead of landfall.
Numbers from FlightAware show that the bulk of cancelled flights are in Florida with 90 per cent of flights into Tampa grounded, 100 per cent of flights into Sarasota/Bradenton Intl cancelled and 100 per cent of flights into Orlando Sanford Intl cancelled.
Southwest Airlines had to cancel 418 of its flights, while American Airlines cancelled 327 and Delta cancelled 265.
Flight Cancellations
| Number of flights cancelled | Percentage of total flights (%) | Airline |
| 418 | 11 | Southwest |
| 327 | 9 | American Airlines |
| 265 | 7 | Delta |
| 178 | 22 | JetBlue |
| 165 | 5 | United |
| 121 | 20 | Spirit |
| 118 | 6 | Air China |
| 106 | 62 | Allegiant Air |
| 72 | 18 | Frontier |
Airlines refute claims of price gouging
Airlines have refuted claims that they inflated flight prices out of Florida ahead of the storm’s landfall. Florida residents took to social media to express outrage at the seemingly inflated cost of flights out of the state earlier this week. One user tagged United Airlines, asking “What’s up with the price gouging in Tampa?”.
Hey @united, what’s up with the price gouging in Tampa for people trying to evacuate? Your prices aren’t nearly as comparable to American or Southwest… shady. pic.twitter.com/DWBT05QQL5
— Jeremy (@iowaradioguy) October 7, 2024
As highlighted by Skift, however, the screenshots were not valid as the prices were shown after Tampa Airport had already closed ahead of landfall. United confirmed they had capped the fairs at $500 on Sunday and the average cost of the flights was below that limit.
Both United Airlines and American Airlines confirmed they had added additional flights ahead of the storm and also waived change fees.
Florida is the most-visited state in the US, according to Statista numbers from 2022. In 2022 alone, visitors to the state contributed $121.5 billion (AU$180.96 billion) to the local economy and helped fund 2 million jobs.
Sea and land impacted too
It was not just the airlines that were forced to change their plans. Royal Caribbean has reportedly adjusted routes on seven voyages, whilst Carnival has modified routes for four ships.
Meanwhile, MSC Cruises is said to have adjusted itineraries on four of its trips and given guests free Wi-Fi so they can communicate with loved ones.
Rail provider Amtrak cancelled two trains.
Feature image: National Hurricane Centre
