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 wait for an open seat on another flight within 14 days of the original date |
Whether any airline extends its waiver past these dates: TBA.
What it means for travelers
- 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 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.
- Confirm before you leave. 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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