US: Flight cancellations mount as Dorian lashes US southeast coast

Hurricane Dorian upended Labor Day travel plans for hundreds of thousands of people in the Southeastern US Monday, as fierce winds and torrential rains forced widespread cancellation of rail service and airline traffic. According to FlightAware airlines cancelled 1,152 flights on Monday. The hardest-hit airport was Fort Lauderdale International in Florida, which closed at noon Monday and where 543 flights were canceled, three-quarters of the airport’s total scheduled for the day. Daytona Beach International Airport and both Orlando International Airport and Orlando Melbourne International Airport also closed Monday. For Tuesday, airlines have canceled more than 550 flights already, according to the website. At least three airlines –- American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, and Southwest -- announced that they were waiving cancellation and change fees for flights involving storm-impacted airports in Florida and the Bahamas. Southwest also waived pet fees for travellers trying to evacuate their dogs and cats from Florida and South Carolina. Dorian had slowed to a crawl over the Bahamas on Monday but was expected to gradually turn to the northwest to begin a run up the US East Coast.<br/>