United Airlines update on Hurricane Florence

As Hurricane Florence makes her trek towards North Carolina, predictions are that she will make landfall in the southern area of the state. It is anticipated that she will cause extensive damage to the communities in her path, and United Airlines is offering its customers options as Florence looms.

The hurricane has been growing in size and gaining strength, now categorized as an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane. Landfall is expected on Thursday and into Friday, although nature will decide what track Florence finally takes. Wherever she goes, she will bring catastrophic flooding, destructive winds.

For the most up-to-date news, announcements and travel updates about United service to airports in the Mid-Atlantic, customers are encouraged to visit united.com and on United’s social media channels including @United on Twitter and United Airlines on Facebook.

Options for Customers

United is offering a travel waiver for customers ticketed on flights to, from or through impacted cities from Sept. 10 through Sept. 16, 2018. Customers may reschedule their itineraries for 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. United will waive first, second, excess, overweight and oversized baggage fees as well as in-cabin pet fees for all flights to/from the below cities:

• Asheville, North Carolina (AVL)
• Charleston, South Carolina (CHS)
• Charlotte, North Carolina (CLT)
• Charlottesville, Virginia (CHO)
• Columbia, South Carolina (CAE)
• Fayetteville, North Carolina (FAY)
• Greenville/Spartanburg, SC (GSP)
• Greensboro, North Carolina (GSO)
• Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (MYR)
• Norfolk, Virginia (ORF)
• Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina (RDU)
• Richmond, Virginia (RIC)
• Roanoke, Virginia (ROA)
• Savannah, Georgia (SAV)
• Shenandoah Valley Airport, Virginia (SHD)
• Wilmington, North Carolina (ILM)

The airline has also reduced fares beyond what a regular last-minute fare would be for impacted markets.

United’s customer service teams are proactively reaching out to customers with reservations during the forecasted impact time and rebooking them on alternate flights. Customers may check flight status and change travel plans quickly and conveniently via the United app, and on united.com. Customers who require rebooking or customers without reservations should not go to the airport. United is encouraging customers to call 1-800-UNITED-1 for help rebooking travel. The airline encourages customers who do not have immediate travel plans to call at a later date.


United continues to monitor the direction of the storm and will update waivers as needed.