After the FAA closed airspace in the Eastern Caribbean on Jan. 3 due to U.S. military operations in Venezuela, travel advisors scrambled to help clients with canceled flights during the busy Caribbean travel season.
Airspace reopened on January 4, but many travelers were unable to return to the United States immediately due to flight availability.
Julie Lanham, president of Vacations to Remember in Evans, Georgia, woke up to news of military operations. “My immediate thought was to check the status of our customers who were traveling in the area, because we knew this would impact travel in some way,” Lanham said.
Her judgment was correct. Customers in Puerto Rico and many other islands faced flight cancellations. Hundreds of flights were canceled in the region on January 4, severely impacting Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Barbados, St. Lucia, and St. Maarten.
Lanham was never alone. As the morning wore on, Facebook travel advisor groups were filled with posts talking about flight cancellations in the Eastern Caribbean region.
The airspace closures posed a significant challenge for airlines, which were already handling large volumes of flights at the end of the holiday season. Compounding the difficulty of the situation, many of the airline’s U.S.-Caribbean routes operate only on weekends, meaning travelers who were unable to fly home on Jan. 3 had to either spend a few more days in their destination or book a regional flight to San Juan, the Caribbean’s main hub, before booking a flight to the mainland U.S.
Lanham said he has rescheduled reservations for customers flying from Puerto Rico to Atlanta and New York’s JFK Airport later this week.
“They’ve been very accommodating,” Lanham said, adding that one customer who wanted to go home joked, “You can only drink so many piña coladas.” Children are absent from school and parents are absent from work.
Lanham said the Puerto Rican client refused travel insurance and did not have a passport with him, limiting his options for returning home.
“They learned valuable lessons on both fronts,” she said.
Additional flights to the Eastern Caribbean
U.S. airlines on Monday flew additional aircraft to and from the Eastern Caribbean to serve customers hit hard by the airspace closures.
American Airlines added 43 flights to the region, including nine round trips. Notably, Envoy Air, a wholly owned American regional airline, has launched two special inter-island flights between Anguilla and Beef Island and San Juan in the British Virgin Islands. The interisland flight allowed more customers to take advantage of American’s scheduled flight between San Juan and Miami. American Airlines is using its largest aircraft, a Boeing 777-300, on the San Juan-Miami flight.
Delta also added 2,600 seats and expanded its Caribbean routes on Monday. The airline said it is working to re-engage all affected customers by Tuesday, January 6.
Delta Air Lines on Monday warned customers that Caribbean flights could be delayed as a result of increasing capacity in the region. The flyer recommended arriving at the airport at least three hours before the flight time.
Meanwhile, United Airlines was offering three additional one-way flights Monday between Newark, San Juan and Aruba. These additions follow United’s January 4 addition of 14 one-way flights connecting San Juan, St. Kitts, Bonaire, St. Thomas and St. Lucia to mainland hubs.
Southwest Airlines on Monday added eight flights to and from Puerto Rico to help get travelers home.
JetBlue, the Caribbean’s major airline, was less specific, saying it would continue to evaluate whether it could provide additional capacity with additional flights or larger aircraft.
Information from ALG Vacations
Over the weekend, vacation package company ALG Vacations issued guidance for travel advisors with clients heading to or to the Eastern Caribbean region. It recommended that customers work directly with hotels if they are unable to return to their homes. ALG Vacations says hotels may offer “special rates.”
The company said it is also seeking a waiver of hotel penalties for customers who cancel their stays or arrive late.
In fact, Sandals Resorts International said it would offer discounted rates if you need a longer stay until flights resume. Sandals also said its team worked closely with guests on flight changes and waived penalties for missed nights and late departures. The affected Sandals resorts in the Eastern Caribbean are in St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Grenada, Barbados, Antigua and Grenada.
If a flight is canceled and a customer is unable to reach their destination, ALG Vacations recommended that the VAX VacationAccess reservation be canceled and the traveler submit a post-trip form for refund to the airline.
Staff writers Brinley Hineman and Christina Jelski contributed to this report.
