Airlines waived change fees ahead of a nor'easter. Flight disruptions were minimal as of Friday morning. This counts as news now.
The nor'easter was coming. Everyone knew it was coming. Weather forecasters had been talking about it for days. And yet the airlines treated this revelation like they'd just discovered that winter happens in the northern hemisphere. Quick, someone tell corporate we need to waive fees. Get legal on the phone. Draft a press release about our commitment to passenger safety. Act like this is the first storm in recorded history.
Flight disruptions were minimal. That's the entire story. The storm hadn't even arrived yet and the media was already writing articles about how graciously the airlines were handling a hypothetical problem. Retail traders saw this headline and immediately started scanning their portfolios for weather-related plays. Maybe Southwest goes down. Maybe United goes up. Maybe I should buy calls on umbrella manufacturers. Maybe technical analysis will finally work if I just apply it to precipitation patterns.
The airlines waived fees for flights that weren't even cancelled. They issued statements congratulating themselves for basic operational flexibility during predictable seasonal weather. Passengers who might have wanted to change their Saturday flights got to do so without paying extra. What a breakthrough in customer service. What innovation. Someone alert the business schools.
By Saturday the disruptions were still minimal. The nor'easter came and went like every other nor'easter in history. Flights took off. Flights landed. Some got delayed. Nobody cared except the guy who panic-sold his airline stocks on Friday because he thought a weather system with a cute nickname meant bankruptcy was imminent.
He's currently researching whether snow affects his cannabis penny stocks.
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