Tropical Storm Francine causes scramble across Gulf Coast airline, cruise travel

Travelers with plans to make their way to or from the U.S. Gulf Coast from Texas to the Florida Panhandle should make contingency plans as Tropical Storm Francine is likely to disrupt travel in coastal areas, including cruise ships. 

The National Hurricane Center forecasts Francine to become a hurricane on Tuesday and make landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday. 

This system’s most dangerous impacts include life-threatening storm surge, dangerous beach conditions and strong winds. The biggest travel impacts along the Gulf Coast are likely to happen on Wednesday afternoon and evening. 

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Delta, American Airlines, United and Southwest are all offering vouchers or rebooking at no extra cost to those flying in and out of airports that may be impacted by Francine. 

The airports most likely to see delays or cancellations from Francine include many major airports across the U.S. Gulf Coast, such as Houston, Corpus Christi and Brownsville in Texas and Baton Rouge, Lake Charles and New Orleans in Louisiana. Flights to and from Mobile, Alabama, and Biloxi, Mississippi, could also be delayed or canceled. 

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Flights coming from other parts of the country, including those from the western U.S. to Miami or Atlanta, could also be delayed. 

Impacts to air travel forecast for Wednesday.
(FOX Weather)

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Francine is also expected to impact cruise line travel along the Texas and Louisiana coasts, home to major ports.

Cruisemummy.com reports that Carnival Cruise Line could be the most impacted. Three ships are scheduled to sail to and from Galveston around Wednesday, when Francine is forecast to make landfall. Two other ships, Carnival Valor and Carnival Liberty, are sailing from New Orleans on Wednesday.

Royal Caribbean has two ships that may be impacted by Francine. 

By Thursday, lingering impacts from Francine should clear, allowing travelers to continue with their weekend plans.