Major US airlines have offered waivers and flexible rebooking for passengers whose schedules were affected by the postponement of the 2024 Sugar Bowl College Football Playoff following the terror attack on Bourbon Street, New Orleans. 

The incident left 16, including the suspect, dead and 39 injured, including two police officers, according to media reports. In response to the tragedy, the highly-anticipated national quarterfinal playoff between the University of Georgia and Notre Dame scheduled for Wednesday evening local time has been moved to Thursday at 8:45 p.m. ET.

The blood-chilling terror attack on Bourbon Street occurred in the early morning hours of New Year's celebrations at about 3:15 am local time when a man drove a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year's Eve revelers, got out and opened live fire before police gunned him down in the shootout.

After a robust investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), later identified the perpetrator of the terror attack as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an American-born resident of Houston, Texas. Jabbar is suspected of being a member of the Islamic State (ISIS) since a flag of the terrorist organization was recovered at the back of his truck, alongside explosives.

Travel Waivers and Flexible Rebooking

Following the tragic incident, major airlines have come forward to assist their passengers in dealing with travel challenges linked to the tragedy as the families try to come to terms with the loss of their loved ones while fans try to make sense of altered plans.

American, Delta, United, Southwest, and Frontier Airlines have already announced temporary measures, including free rebooking within a flexible timeline and waivers on flight fee changes for passengers whose flights to and from Louis Armstrong International Airport were affected.

However, as of January 1, JetBlue and Spirit Airlines had not issued any travel advisory in response to the tragic incident in New Orleans.

Travel advisories vary among airlines, with the deadline for rebooking ranging from January 3 to January 6. However, some airlines provide up to two weeks of travel flexibility. Therefore, Travelers should check travel advisories for their respective airlines. 

United Airlines announced Wednesday that it would waive the fare differences and associated flight change fees for passengers traveling to and from Louis Armstrong International Airport, MSY.

However, the waiver only applies to new flights that depart between Dec. 31, 2024, and Jan. 6, 2025.  The new flight tickets also must be for the same cabin and flight between the same cities as initially booked.

Like United, American Airlines offers no-cost flight reschedules for passengers booked into any class, including basic economy, to help them adjust to sudden changes. According to their advisory on Wednesday, the waiver applies to tickets purchased by January 1 for flights scheduled for January 1-3, 2025, and can travel between January 1 and 6.

The affected travelers must book the changes by January 3 without changing their flight cabin, origin, or destination. As such, rebooking flights departing after January 6 and any changes in the flight cabin, origin, or destination will require the passenger to pay for the fare difference.

Unlike American and United Airlines, Southwest Airlines offers increased travel flexibilities for its customers who booked flights to, from, or through Louis Armstrong International Airport (MSY) between January 1 and 3 as long as they maintain their original city pairs, accommodation, and flight cabin.

According to the airline's advisory, customers can rebook new flights or travel on standby without extra charges for up to 14 days from their original date of travel. Also, the affected travelers, including those who booked non-refundable tickets, will be eligible for ticket refunds due to flight delays or cancellations.

Frontier Airlines also waived its flight change fees for affected passengers who were scheduled to travel from January 1 to January 3 as long as the original departure and arrival cities remained the same. Nevertheless, if the newly issued ticket is more expensive, Frontier Airlines may charge the passenger the difference in fare.

Although these waivers provide some reprieve for troubled travelers who may be stranded or have their travel plan messed up, all affected passengers are advised to check their airlines' websites for the most recent waiver updates and also to call customer support for any specifics on flights.