Airlines are rushing to restart flights to and from the Caribbean after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) let a safety alert prohibiting flights over large swathes of the region expire at midnight Eastern Time on Saturday into Sunday.
The emergency Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) was issued just hours after the White House confirmed that the U.S. military had carried out strikes on the Venezuelan capital Caracas and captured President Nicolas Maduro.
Fearing that U.S. airlines could be targeted in a retaliatory attack by the Venezuelan military or get caught up in heightened U.S military activity in the region, the FAA prohibited all flights over much of the Eastern Caribbean.
The NOTAM appeared to catch airlines off guard, with the likes of Delta, Spirit, and JetBlue moving quickly to process cancellations at the last minute.
The prohibition was originally set to expire on Sunday, January 4, but there had been fears that the FAA could extend the NOTAM, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded.
Late on Saturday, however, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy took to X to confirm that the NOTAM would be allowed to expire as planned.
“The original restrictions around the Caribbean airspace are expiring at 12:00am ET and flights can resume,” Duffy wrote. “Airlines are informed, and will update their schedules quickly. Please continue to work with your airline if your flight was affected by the restrictions.”
In a statement, Southwest Airlines said it was adding additional capacity to San Juan and Aruba in an attempt to clear a backlog of stranded passengers, with eight extra round-trips added on Sunday, and just as many on Monday.
Delta Air Lines, however, warned that while it planned to operate its regularly scheduled Caribbean schedule on Sunday, some ‘adjustments’ could be made as it repositions its planes and crews.
