U.S. attack on Venezuela prompts flight cancellations, Caribbean travel disruption

Hours after the United States delivered multiple military strikes and executed an operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, dozens of flights were canceled, triggering travel disruptions in the Caribbean that the Federal Aviation Administration warned could last for days. 

Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, early Saturday morning said a temporary airspace restriction was issued for the region, citing an FAA order.

The restriction was due to "a security situation related to military activity in Venezuela," the airport said in a post on X.

More than 310 airport departures and arrivals were canceled as of 12:30 p.m., according to FlightAware, which tracks flight delays and cancellations. That number ballooned to more than 370 by 2:20 p.m. and 400 by 6:50 p.m.

JetBlue, in an alert Saturday morning, said it would waive airline change and cancellation fees for customers traveling between Jan. 3 and Jan. 4 to and from a series of Caribbean cities, including Aruba and San Juan.

American Airlines issued a similar alert, indicating that changes must be booked by Sunday. The airline said at least 19 airports in the Eastern Caribbean were affected by travel disruptions.

Delta Air Lines said it had issued travel waivers Saturday afternoon for customers looking to travel from 13 impacted airports between Saturday and Tuesday.

"Delta began cancelling flights early Saturday morning in compliance with FAA airspace closures in the Caribbean," the company said in an alert. 

The U.S. State Department warned Americans on Dec. 3 to avoid traveling to Venezuela "due to the high risk of wrongful detention, torture in detention, terrorism, kidnapping, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, crime, civil unrest, and poor health infrastructure."

The Associated Press contributed to this story. 

By Joseph Ostapiuk

joseph.ostapiuk@newsday.com@OstapiukJ