Airports and airlines brace for a major impact from Hurricane Ian

(CNN) — Airlines, airports and the federal government are bracing for aviation infrastructure to take a major blow from Hurricane Ian. Cancellations and closures are already piling up across the Florida peninsula.

The storm is forecast to make landfall Wednesday afternoon on Florida’s west coast as a major hurricane.

Tampa International Airport, where officials are preparing for a major impact, suspended operations at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday.

The Tampa airport said there will be no departing flights through Thursday.

“We will share a reopening date and time when it is determined,” the airport said on Twitter Wednesday. The airport typically handles 450 flights daily.

Miami International Airport was still open midday Wednesday, according to a notice on the airport’s website, although some flights had been delayed or canceled.

Operations ceased at 10:30 am ET Wednesday at Orlando International Airport. The airport sees nearly 130,000 passengers daily, according to its website.

The terminal at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport closed at 1 p.m. Tuesday “due to mandatory evacuation orders from Pinellas County and remain closed until the evacuation order is lifted,” according to the verified tweet from the airport.

Sarasota Bradenton International Airport closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday night.

Florida airports lead in US cancellations

By midday Wednesday, FlightAware data showed about 2,100 US flight cancellations nationwide on Wednesday. About 1,700 Thursday flights had already been canceled.

Orlando, Miami and Tampa airports were the top three trouble spots, with cancellations also mounting at Fort Lauderdale International Airport and Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers.

Effects could ripple through the southeastern United States with Atlanta and Charlotte already seeing cancellations.

Airlines canceling flights

American Airlines, which operates about 250 daily departures out of Miami, its fourth-largest hub, had canceled about flights by midday Wednesday, including mainline and regional service.

American customers traveling through 20 airports in the hurricane’s path can rebook flights without change fees. The airline has also added “reduced, last-minute fares for cities that will be impacted” in hopes of helping people who are trying to “evacuate via air.”

American is waiving change fees for customers flying to and from Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina because of the path of Hurricane Ian. The airline had already waived change fees for flights to and from Florida.

United Airlines is starting to shutter operations on the Atlantic Coast of Florida in anticipation of Hurricane Ian’s path after it makes landfall.

By Wednesday afternoon, United says it will halt departures from West Palm Beach, Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports. United will not operate from Jacksonville starting on Thursday.

United said on Wednesday that it had proactively canceled 345 flights since Tuesday, swapping some outbound flights with larger airplanes to help customers who were evacuating from the storm’s path.

United and Southwest Airlines also suspended operations at the Fort Myers and Sarasota airports.

United also canceled all Tuesday and Wednesday flights to and from Key West and canceled some flights out of Orlando “as to minimize crew layovers.”

By midday Wednesday, Southwest Airlines had canceled more than 500 US flights, according to FlightAware data.

FAA closely monitoring Ian

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was “closely monitoring Hurricane Ian and its path,” in a statement, underscoring that it does not cancel commercial flights.

“Before any storm hits, we prepare and protect air traffic control facilities and equipment along the projected storm path so operations can quickly resume after the hurricane passes to support disaster relief efforts.”

Moving aircraft to safer places

Multiple airlines are moving aircraft out of harm’s way and note it will take time to reestablish service after the storm. First, officials and the airlines must determine when and where it is safe to resume flights, and then they must have crews on the ground available.

“Our in-house weather forecasting is a powerful tool to aid in ops decision making, but equally important are the conditions of ground infrastructure after the storm passes,” Delta spokesman Morgan Durrant told CNN.

Riding out the storm in Tampa

At Tampa International Airport, a team of 120 airport employees have volunteered to stay on site and ride out the storm, airport executive John Tiliacos said Tuesday. The team includes tradesmen like plumbers and electricians who will be essential to restoring service at the airport.

“Once the storm has passed, our team will conduct a damage assessment of our airfield and terminal facilities and determine whether we can reopen immediately or whether we have issues that we need to address as a result of the hurricane impact,” Tiliacos said.

He raised the possibility of the runways reopening to essential flights before the passenger terminal reopens. The facilities are rated for a Category 4 storm, but the airfield could see flooding from the nearby bay.

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