US Airways, JetBlue, AirTran and Independence Air have canceled hundreds of flights as Hurricane Frances approaches Florida this Labor Day weekend.

American Airlines has canceled all flights at its Miami hub until noon on Saturday, all flights in and out of Fort Lauderdale until mid-morning Sunday, all flights in and out of West Palm Beach until Sunday afternoon, and all flights in and out of Orlando until noon on Monday.

AirTran has canceled 228 flights and has added flights to the Bahamas and Florida to accommodate passengers.

Hurricane Frances will affect about 27 percent of JetBlue's flights, and the airline has already canceled nearly 70 flights. New York-based JetBlue is considering sending additional planes to get travelers out of Florida before the storm.

The hurricane pounded the Bahamas and moved toward the crowded southeast Florida coast on Friday, shutting down a large part of the state. Airports across much of Florida had halted flights or were planning to close, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and airport web sites.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, and Key West airports were shut by late morning.

Major carriers at Miami Airport had scheduled their last south Florida flights for early afternoon, with smaller carriers ending flights at various hours.

Orlando International, the gateway for millions to central Florida's theme parks, was to close at noon eastern time, according to the airport's web site.

As the winds of Hurricane Frances buffet the Florida shores airlines such as JetBlue and AirTran, which get a large chunk of revenue from the region, will get splashed and the sector will lose millions of dollars, industry analysts say.

The hurricane will probably cost the US airline industry about USD$35 million to USD$40 million, according to Michael Boyd, an aviation consultant at the Boyd Group. "It will be a more significant hit on airlines that are heavily focused on Florida, like American Airlines, JetBlue and AirTran," he said.

(Reuters)