Within hours of the FAA’s decision to reopen Caribbean airspace, Delta Air Lines published a customer advisory detailing its recovery plan. The carrier, which cancelled dozens of departures on Saturday, said it would operate "some flying with larger aircraft" and three supplemental sections on January 4 to clear a backlog centred on San Juan, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. A flexible rebooking waiver covers thirteen airports and remains valid through January 6.
Delta has asked travellers not to go to the airport unless they hold a re-confirmed seat, noting that ramp areas at many leisure-island gateways lack space for mass overnight holds. Corporate sales teams told multinational clients that premium-cabin inventory is being protected for medical, energy-sector and time-critical travellers—a reminder that negotiated corporate contracts can provide resilience during irregular operations.
For travellers juggling last-minute itinerary changes and varying entry rules across several Caribbean jurisdictions, VisaHQ’s online platform can take the paperwork burden off their hands. Its U.S. portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-states/) lets users check visa and travel-authorisation requirements in minutes and, where needed, expedite processing—giving mobility teams and individual passengers one less variable to worry about as flights start moving again.
![Delta issues travel waiver and adds extra capacity as Caribbean flights restart]()
From an employee-mobility standpoint, the waiver period is crucial. U.S. assignees returning from holiday rotations in offshore projects around Curaçao and Trinidad can rebook without fare differences, avoiding expensive last-minute tickets that normally fall outside travel-policy caps. Mobility managers should, however, verify that employees use Delta-approved self-booking tools; manual changes at airport counters may incur service fees that cannot be waived retroactively.
Delta’s operations-control centre is repositioning Airbus A330-900 and Boeing 767-300ER wide-bodies to hub gateways to absorb demand spikes. The airline warns that crew-duty limits and congestion at customs halls could still force day-of-departure retimes. Travellers are encouraged to monitor the Fly Delta app for gate changes and to complete U.S. Customs Mobile Passport Control to shorten arrival queues.
Looking ahead, Delta says it will review its risk-routing algorithms and strengthen coordination with the FAA’s new NOTAM Management Service scheduled for full deployment in spring 2026. Business-travel analysts expect airlines to lobby for clearer exemption criteria so that flights with adequate fuel reserves can traverse restricted zones at higher altitudes rather than cancel outright.
Delta has asked travellers not to go to the airport unless they hold a re-confirmed seat, noting that ramp areas at many leisure-island gateways lack space for mass overnight holds. Corporate sales teams told multinational clients that premium-cabin inventory is being protected for medical, energy-sector and time-critical travellers—a reminder that negotiated corporate contracts can provide resilience during irregular operations.
For travellers juggling last-minute itinerary changes and varying entry rules across several Caribbean jurisdictions, VisaHQ’s online platform can take the paperwork burden off their hands. Its U.S. portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-states/) lets users check visa and travel-authorisation requirements in minutes and, where needed, expedite processing—giving mobility teams and individual passengers one less variable to worry about as flights start moving again.
From an employee-mobility standpoint, the waiver period is crucial. U.S. assignees returning from holiday rotations in offshore projects around Curaçao and Trinidad can rebook without fare differences, avoiding expensive last-minute tickets that normally fall outside travel-policy caps. Mobility managers should, however, verify that employees use Delta-approved self-booking tools; manual changes at airport counters may incur service fees that cannot be waived retroactively.
Delta’s operations-control centre is repositioning Airbus A330-900 and Boeing 767-300ER wide-bodies to hub gateways to absorb demand spikes. The airline warns that crew-duty limits and congestion at customs halls could still force day-of-departure retimes. Travellers are encouraged to monitor the Fly Delta app for gate changes and to complete U.S. Customs Mobile Passport Control to shorten arrival queues.
Looking ahead, Delta says it will review its risk-routing algorithms and strengthen coordination with the FAA’s new NOTAM Management Service scheduled for full deployment in spring 2026. Business-travel analysts expect airlines to lobby for clearer exemption criteria so that flights with adequate fuel reserves can traverse restricted zones at higher altitudes rather than cancel outright.
