I am suppose to go to TPA on 8/30 and return to DCA on 8/31.

The weather (Ernesto) does not look promising.

When would one expect US to issue a statement?

I see they have one for MBJ/KIN/GCM/EYW but that is it for now.

Do not expect an advisory for TPA. The 5AM today looks like the center of the storm will scoot up the east coast of the state. As with most Atlantic hurricanes, the winds on the west side of the storm are not forecast to be as strong as on the east side. Tropical storm force winds are only expected on the west side within 90 miles of the center of the storm.

However, our shutters will probably go up Tuesday or Wednesday night.

I'm suppossed to go to FLL this afternoon until Wednesday night and the only Florida city they've relaxed the rules for as of 10 am EDT is EYW. I guess we have to wait for the folks in Tempe to get up and get into the office and find mainland Florida before they make any further decisions.

Good luck and keep safe to all FT in Florida.

I would expect something in the next few hours. The predictions for Ernesto have been pretty unreliable, and the models are all over the place.

The 11am ET prediction has FLL in the Hurricane Watch area. If the next prediction kicks this thing to the west, TPA will have one as well.

You will see an advisory for Ernesto when the hurricane is bearing down on the coast. :( US is terrible with updating with timely information.

It's like every other hurricane that threatens FL. You just have to keep watching to see what happens.

US is one of the few that actually has something about the hurricane on their front page. Of all the major carriers: Delta, Northwest, United and Southwest have absolutely nothing. Continental has a small listing, but no Florida cities listed, and American only has Key West listed on their site as cities you are able to reticket on.
Hope all of you FT'ers in the affected areas are safe. As some have said, nobody has been able to give an accurate path of this hurricane. I'm sure the site will be updated when they know more.
Fly safe everyone!

OCC is the one that makes operational decisions, not Tempe, for USAirways. I have a lot of respect for the folks in OCC and trust them... so just cause a lil storm that COULD become strong is coming towards florida, doesn't mean they should start cancelling.

I mean, if a cloud approaches PHX, should they close the airport for the next 3 days? Cause once you start cancelling due to storms, it takes an average of 2 - 3 days to recover.

Straight from Sabre:

N*LAND
STAR LAND
0S US MAINLINE LANDING AND OPERATIONS CONDITIONS
1N UPDATED 1435E MON 28 AUG BKGS: xxxxx L/F xx%
2N .
3N BOS..ARR DLYS UP TO 100MIN DUE TO LOW CEILINGS
4N ORD..ARR DLYS UP TO 60 MIN DUE TO LOW CEILINGS
5N .
6N EWR..ARR DLYS UP TO 120 MIN DUE TO LOW CEILINGS
7N LGA..ARR DLYS UP TO 120 MIN DUE TO LOW CEILINGS
8N .
9N .
10N .
11N .
12N .
13N .
14N .
15N .
16N .
17N EYW..SEE LINE 93
18N OCC WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE TRACK OF ERNESTO
19N .
20N .
21N .
22N .
23N .
24N ................ MD FOR MORE INFO .................
89N ....................... END CJ .......................
90N .. REPUBLIC AIRLINES .. RW .. FLT RANGE 3300-3499 ..
91N ... PRINTER ADDRESS .. xxxxxx .. PH DN xxxxxxx DISP
92N .
93N EYW..MONROE CO. HAS ORDERED MANDATORY EVACUATION OF
94N . ALL TOURIST EFFECTIVE AT 1300E ON 8-27.
95N . HOTELS WILL NOT ACCEPT ANYONE. ONLY PEOPLE WITH
96N . A LOCAL DRIVERS LICENSE WILL BE ALLOWED IN.
97N .AIRPORT WILL CLOSE AT 1200M 8-28 UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
98N .ALL FLTS IN/OUT WILL CANX ON 8-29
99N .
100N .
101N .

I called around noon EDT and MIA, FLL and PBI had been added to the list, but the website had yet to be updated. Looks like they added RSW to the list too.

The flight I was to be on today, 447, went out with +/-106 (it was a 300).

BTW, PHL was DEAD this afternoon. The max line for take-off was 4 jets, and although there were some delays, things were running very well.

United currently has all Florida cities listed.