For the latest updates on Hurricane Helene, follow AJC’s live coverage and hour-by-hour forecasts.
The number of canceled flights into and out of Florida and Georgia continues to climb as the Southeast braces for Hurricane Helene.
More than 1,100 flights in the U.S. have been canceled so far today. Not all are due to the hurricane, but the number of cancellations has climbed steadily as the storm has approached landfall.
As of 4:30 p.m. Thursday, more than 190 flights into or out of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport have been canceled for today, according to FlightAware. So far, more than 60 flights into and out of Atlanta have been canceled for tomorrow. These figures could grow later today and into Friday as the metro Atlanta area feels the full brunt of Helene.
About 90,000 travelers are expected to fly out of Hartsfield-Jackson Thursday, according to a post on the airport’s account on X, formerly Twitter. The airport expects minimal impacts to its operations, but flights to and from airports along the Gulf Coast will be impacted due to airport closures, according to a statement from a spokeswoman.
Given the inclement weather, Hartsfield-Jackson recommends travelers arrive early and check wait times on its website.
Delta Air Lines expects Helene to impact its hub at Hartsfield-Jackson as the storm moves north, the airline said in a news release. It anticipates possible changes to its scheduled operations at Hartsfield-Jackson Friday morning, as inclement weather may affect the airport early in the day.
Helene is the eighth named storm of this year’s hurricane season. Helene’s hardest impacts in the metro area and North Georgia are expected to peak between Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.
The storm is expected to make landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida between Panama City Beach and Cedar Key late Thursday evening as a Category 4 hurricane, with winds potentially reaching 130 mph, according to estimates from the National Hurricane Center. South Georgia and metro Atlanta are both projected to see hurricane-force winds. Forecasters warn that the storm could bring flash flooding, landslides and caused extensive river and stream flooding.
Credit: SPECIAL
Credit: SPECIAL
More than 400 flights to and from Tampa International Airport that were scheduled for Thursday have been canceled as of about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, according to flight data tracker FlightAware. That’s the vast majority of Tampa’s scheduled inbound and outbound flights scheduled for Thursday, according to FlightAware. Dozens more that were scheduled for Friday have already been canceled.
Tampa’s airport closed to the public early Thursday, and plans to reopen when it is safe to do so, according to an update posted to the airport’s X account. The St. Pete-Clearwater and Tallahassee airports are also closed Thursday.
Dozens of flights cumulatively also have been canceled into and out of Southwest Florida International in Fort Myers, Sarasota-Bradenton International and Tallahassee International.
All four areas — Tampa, Fort Myers, Tallahassee and Sarasota — are under a hurricane watch, and expected to see major rainfall by late Thursday evening.
Delta suspended operations at Florida airports that closed ahead of Helene’s arrival. As of 4:30 p.m. Thursday, the airline has canceled more than 150 flights today and more than 15 on Friday. Delta also issued a travel advisory for flights traveling to, from or through several destinations in the forecasted path of the storm between Wednesday and Friday. Affected cities include Valdosta, Key West, Daytona Beach, Jacksonville and Hilton Head Island, among others. Delta is encouraging its customers to monitor its flight status closely on its website or Fly Delta app.
Southwest has canceled more than 200 flights scheduled for Thursday and more than 80 for Friday so far, FlightAware data show. The airline issued a travel advisory for customers traveling in several southeastern cities through Friday, including Fort Myers, Tampa, Jacksonville and Pensacola, as well as Atlanta, Savannah and Nashville. Customers traveling to, from or through the listed cities can rebook or travel standby without paying additional charges.
American, United, JetBlue and Frontier have also canceled significant numbers of flights scheduled for Thursday and several scheduled for Friday. United Airlines has issued a travel alert impacting 19 airports, with eight in Florida. Frontier has issued one for passengers impacting nine Florida airports and JetBlue has one for six airports in Florida, two in Georgia and one in South Carolina.
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