As the Mexican people begin their slow return to normalcy with the opening of schools, government agencies and restaurants after the outbreak of the swine or H1N1 flu gripped the nation, airlines continued to accommodate travelers still concerned about visiting the country.
In response to New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s Thursday, April 30 request to airlines – Delta, Northwest, American, Continental, US Airways, United and JetBlue – to extend their offer to waive change penalties for passengers traveling to Mexico, most airlines have done so.
In a Friday, May 1 American Airlines statement in response to the Senator’s request, the airline declared that they have extended the time period for which they will allow changes in Mexico travel without payment of a fee from May 16 to May 31. “We monitor the H1N1 flu virus situation continuously, and will make any changes to our current policy that are warranted by conditions going forward,” continued the statement.
On a May 1 update, Northwest Airlines stated it would honor rescheduled travel between April 26 and the ticket validity date, usually one year from the date of issue, in the same class of service as originally scheduled, without charge, and subject to availability. Ticket must have been booked by April 29 to qualify.
US Airways, which specifically listed the cities in Mexico that enter into the scope of the travel advisory issued on May 1, will allow a one-time option to reschedule travel dates or book to a different destination. Changes must be made up to 14 days prior to travel.
JetBlue, which updated its travel advisory on Monday, May 4, will allow customers who had flights scheduled between April 25 and May 31 to postpone their travel or rebook to an alternate destination without a penalty. However, flights must be changed prior to scheduled departure.
In a May 5 updated advisory, Delta will allow a one-time change to tickets for flights scheduled between May 17 and June 30. Travelers can now book to fly on or before June 30, but they warned that changes may result in an increase in fare.
United Airlines, which had cancelled many flights to Mexico and now only flies there only on Tuesday, Wednesday and Fridays, will refund passengers whose flights had been cancelled. Passengers scheduled to fly between April 26 and May 31 can rebook anytime up to one year from the date the ticket was issued with no penalty. United will also issue waivers to Mexican nationals traveling to Belgium, China and Singapore.
Continental posted on May 5 that passengers with travel plans between April 24 and May 31 can reschedule flights for anytime before the end of the validity of the ticket. However, if the passenger changes ticket class – from coach to business – or city, a penalty will apply. Continental also recommends that passengers check to see if their flight has been impacted due to a reduction of flights to Mexico.
In related developments, on Tuesday, May 5, an Aeroméxico plane flew to China to pick up around 70 Mexican citizens who had been quarantined by the Chinese government. The Chinese government said that these measures were precautionary but Mexican President Felipe Calderon accused the Chinese of discrimination. The Chinese government also sent a plane to Mexico to pick up Chinese citizens there.
As a result, Continental issued a travel notice on May 5 that passengers arriving in China holding Mexican passports will be detained and quarantined.
Also, complete travel bans to Mexico were issued by the governments of Argentina, Peru and Mexico.
