Ahead of the winter storm forecasted to make its way towards the Midwest and into the western Great Lakes bringing moderate to heavy snow to some parts of the region, Delta has proactively issued a winter weather waiver for November 25-26, 2018.

Delta's operational teams are keeping a watchful eye on a winter weather system as moves across the central United States early Sunday and into Monday. Some areas in the region could see 4 to 8 inches of snowfall. Customers can expect de-icing operations at airports throughout the affected cities and as a result.

The waiver has been issued for the affected cities including Kansas City, M.O., Bloomington, Ill., Chicago, Moline, Ill., Peoria, Ill., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa, Lincoln, Neb., Omaha, Neb., Milwaukee and Madison, Wis., Flint, Mi., Fort Wayne, Ind., Grand Rapids, Mi, Kalamazoo, Mi., Lansing, Mi., Rapid City, S.D., Saginaw, Mi., and South Bend, Ind. to allow customers the ability to make a one-time change to their travel plans without incurring a fee.

As always, customers are encouraged to check Delta.com or the Fly Delta mobile app for the most up-to-date flight status information.

12:45 p.m., Friday, Nov. 23

Post-Thanksgiving travel: Here’s what to expect in the forecast and Delta’s operation

As travelers prepare to return home following Thanksgiving, weather forecasts for the weekend will feature rain and snow in parts of the United States.

Delta’s team of meteorologists in the airline's Operations and Customer Center are keeping an eye on two weather systems as they move across the central and eastern United States bringing widespread showers and snow into the regions throughout Saturday and into Monday morning.

Customers traveling Saturday can expect moderate to heavy rain as a low-pressure system develops off the East Coast, bringing precipitation into the Great Lakes and Southeast. By Saturday evening, the low will move into the Northeast bringing light to moderate rain. Some freezing rain is possible Saturday night into Sunday in northern New England, but icing is expected to be light.

A heavier storm is expected to move across the Midwest and into the western Great Lakes bringing snow and freezing rain to the region early Sunday morning into Monday. Some airports in the area, such as Kansas City, M.O., Milwaukee and Chicago could see about 4 to 8 inches of snow; while lighter snowfall is expected in Detroit.

Though the airline does not expect these weather systems to cause any significant disruptions to its operation, Delta encourages all customers to check Delta.com, the Fly Delta Mobile App and Delta News Hub for up to date flight status and other Delta news.

Going into one of the busiest travel days of the year, the airline expects to carry nearly two million customers following the Thanksgiving holiday from Saturday, Nov. 24 through Monday, Nov. 26.

One again, the Sunday after Thanksgiving will be the busiest of the weeklong period with nearly 680,000 customers flying on 6,072 scheduled flights, almost 900 more flights than the average Sunday in November — nearly as high as Delta's peak summer day on July 20 with 6,091 flights departing.

Delta's holiday planning began several months ago as the airline kicked into high gear its efforts to keep customers moving through the travel stream. At major hub airports across the system, Delta has increased staffing on peak days to ease the check-in process, including deploying the airline's volunteer Peach Corps in Atlanta, something Delta has done for the last several years. The Peach Corps consists of hundreds of Delta employee-volunteers who help passengers find their way at the Atlanta airport — Delta's busiest hub, with a mission to answer travelers' questions, solve minor problems and guide customers in the right direction, minimizing waiting and frustration. And ease the load on Delta’s frontline employees by redirecting customers who don't need to see a customer service agent to begin their trip.

Although this holiday travel season is expected to be busy, customers can still travel like pros this weekend using Delta’s eight tips for a smooth trip.