PENSACOLA, Fla., Oct. 10, 2026 — Update to our October 9 story. Pensacola International Airport (PNS) was still closed on Saturday morning after Hurricane Isaias came ashore near Destin, to the east, on Friday night. The airport has not set a reopening time.
What changed since Friday
- Landfall: Isaias reached the coast near Destin at about 8:30 p.m. CDT Friday as a Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph winds, weaker than the Category 3 storm it was on Friday morning. By 5 a.m. Saturday it was a post-tropical cyclone over Alabama.
- Still closed: WEAR-TV, reporting Gov. Ron DeSantis’s Saturday morning briefing, said Pensacola International remained closed. The airport has said a reopening date will be set after damage assessments are complete.
- FAA notice: the FAA’s airport status feed, in its Friday evening update, listed PNS closed except with two hours’ prior permission from 6 p.m. CDT Friday to an estimated 5 p.m. CDT Saturday. That end time is an estimate, not a reopening commitment. Confirmed reopening time: TBA.
- Wind in the city: a 102 mph gust was recorded at Pensacola City Hall on Friday evening, AeroCorner reports. No damage report for the airport itself has been published.
- Getting around: about 75% of Escambia County customers were without power at 7 a.m. Saturday. Interstate 10, U.S. 98 and the Three Mile Bridge have reopened, but the city asked people to stay off local roads blocked by trees and power lines.
- Flights lost: FlightAware showed 74 cancellations at PNS by 12:45 p.m. Friday. Thirty-five Saturday flights, about a third of the day’s schedule, were cancelled before the storm arrived.
Airline waivers
| Airline | Travel dates covered | Rebooking terms |
|---|---|---|
| American | Oct. 9–11 | Change by Oct. 11 for travel Oct. 7–14 |
| Delta | Oct. 9–10 | Fare difference waived for new travel on or before Oct. 13 |
| United | Oct. 9–10 | New flights must depart Oct. 7–13 |
| Southwest | Oct. 8–10 | Rebook or fly standby within 14 days of the original date |
Whether any airline extends its waiver past these dates: TBA.
What it means for non-revs
- Do not plan on PNS for Saturday. Even if the airfield opens late in the day, airlines need aircraft and crews back in place before a normal schedule returns.
- Sunday and Monday will be tight. Two days of cancelled passengers are being rebooked under waivers that run to October 13 or 14. Expect full flights and long standby lists on every hub route.
- Nearest open alternate: Northwest Florida Beaches (ECP) in Panama City has reopened to commercial flights, WEAR-TV reports. Destin-Fort Walton Beach (VPS) is still closed.
- Check the drive before you go. Power is out across much of the county and side roads are blocked. Signals and gas stations may not be working.
- Commuters based at PNS: tell crew scheduling early. The first flights out will be the hardest to get on.
- Confirm before listing. Wait for the airport or your airline to announce the first departures.
Sources
- WEAR-TV, “DeSantis: 448,000 without power after Isaias; major Panhandle routes reopen”: weartv.com
- WEAR-TV, “‘It was shaking buildings’: Isaias damage emerges across Pensacola”: weartv.com
- FAA, “National Airspace System Status” airport status feed: nasstatus.faa.gov
- AeroCorner, “Isaias Shuts Pensacola and Destin Airports”: aerocorner.com
- Travel Tourister, “US Flight Chaos Oct. 10: Hurricane Isaias Closes Gulf Coast Airports”: traveltourister.com
- American Airlines, “Travel alerts”: aa.com
- Open Jaw, “Carriers Waive Change Fees as Hurricanes Threaten Gulf Coast, Mexico’s Pacific Coast”: openjaw.com
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