Hilary hits California and Nevada as airlines cancel flights and issue weather waivers

21.08.2023 - 12:33 / thepointsguy.com / Henry Harteveldt / Gavin Newsom

The storm, once known as Hurricane Hilary, weakened to a post-tropical cyclone this morning, but it is currently making quite a mess of Nevada and Southern California. California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for much of Southern California.

Hilary is already causing flooding and is expected to continue to produce torrential rains and flooding through at least Monday evening. It was the first tropical storm to hit California since 1939.

It's led to hundreds of canceled flights, and airlines have issued weather waivers for many airports in Mexico, California and even Nevada.

"It's not a matter of whether there will be disruptions, but how extensive those disruptions will be," said Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst and president of Atmosphere Research.

"The other concern is recovery," he continued, "What steps have airlines, especially those with substantial operations in the areas that will be affected by the hurricane, begun to take to minimize having crew and aircraft out of position? How quickly will airlines resume operations once it is safe for them to do so?"

You can see the track that Hilary followed from Mexico below.

U.S. airlines issued weather waivers for those traveling through Los Cabos International Airport (SJD), Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas or the following California airports:

All the major airlines issued weather waivers for those airports for various days through as late as Aug. 28, though some are being more flexible than others. Those airlines include American Airlines, Alaska, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue.

That means you can reschedule your trip without change fees, and some airlines will also allow you to rebook without having to pay any fare differences, though that's not true of all.

Most airlines will make you keep the same city pairs as your originally booked, though check with your airline as they may be willing to adjust that too. It never hurts to ask.

Tickets must be in the same cabin and between the same cities as originally booked. Travel will likely have to take place within one year of the original ticket's dates.

Here's the language from American Airlines, for example, "Changes must be booked by August 21, 2023. Travel must be completed within 1 year of original ticket date; difference in fare may apply."

Remember that, as a rule, airlines and hotels aren't obligated to offer you compensation if your flight is delayed or canceled due to Mother Nature or an "Act of God" — in other words, weather.

There were severe flight disruptions from Hilary. Airlines canceled as many as a quarter of their flights Sunday. Southwest has canceled another 4% of its flights Monday, as of 7:49 a.m.