Hurricane waivers for Southwest's local passengers

In anticipation of the effects of Hurricane Irene, Southwest Airlines has announced that its passengers traveling to or from MacArthur Airport in Islip on Saturday, Sunday or Monday may reschedule their flights without penalty. The same offer applies to LaGuardia ticket holders.

"Based on the storm's track and potential flight disruptions, Southwest Airlines is offering flexible flight accommodations,"  the airline said on its website Friday.

Those who bought tickets online through the airline's website should just go to southwest.com and click "reschedule your flight."

Those who did not buy on southwest.com should call the airline at 800-435-9792 to rebook their flight in the original class of service or travel standby, within two weeks, without paying any additional charge.

"Southwest Airlines is closely monitoring the conditions surrounding Hurricane Irene. Currently, we are operating our scheduled service to/from all Southwest cities," the airline said.

"However, as the storm conditions develop, there is a possibility that some of our weekend flights could be delayed, diverted, and/or canceled . . . We will continue to post additional updates to this page regarding operational disruptions. For specific flight information, please check Flight Status Information."

The airline has already suspended service in Norfolk, Va., for Saturday starting at 9:30 a.m.

The waiver offer applies to Southwest flights through Albany, Baltimore/Washington, Boston, Hartford/Springfield, Manchester, Newark, Norfolk, Philadelphia, Providence, Raleigh-Durham and Washington Dulles.