Most airlines waive flight-change fees for Southern Calif. travel

and Associated Press

Almost all airlines are waiving change fees for passengers who need to modify their Southern California travel plans because of devastating wildfires there.

Alaska Airlines, American, Continental, American, Delta, United and US Airways all had notices on their Web sites today telling customers flying to and from Southern California that they may change their flights for free. Airlines usually charge about $100 roundtrip for changes to many types of tickets.

More than a dozen wind-driven wildfires have destroyed more than 1,500 homes in Southern California since Sunday and forced close to a million people to flee to safer surroundings.

While policies vary among airlines, many are waiving fees for flight changes through Nov. 1 to San Diego, Los Angeles, Burbank, Santa Barbara, and Palm Springs. As of this afternoon, Alaska and United were permitting no-fee changes to flights to Southern California only through Thursday.

An American Airlines spokesman said waiving fees is fairly standard in such situations. "Frankly, it's not a good place to be on vacation right now, and business people aren't traveling because they're taking care of their homes," spokesman Tim Wagner said.

Airline representatives did not know how many passengers have changed their plans because of the wildfires.

For flight-change policies:

Alaska: www.alaskaair.com American: www.aa.com

Delta: www.delta.com

Continental: www.continental.com United: www.united.com US Airways: www.usairways.com