Sunday was a rough day for many air travelers and some are still struggling to get to their destinations.
Nearly 2,500 U.S. flights were canceled and more than 9,800 flights were delayed Sunday, according to flight tracker FlightAware. More than 1,500 flights are canceled and over 3,000 more are delayed as of noon E.T. Monday.
American Airlines appears to have been particularly impacted with nearly 20% of their flights canceled and a third delayed on Sunday. Its cancellations are down to 10% and delays down to 6% Monday, according to FlightAware, but social media is still peppered with frustrations from stranded travelers and videos of long airport lines for customer service.
“American Airlines is monitoring the track of Tropical Storm Debby and has issued a travel alert allowing customers whose travel plans are affected to rebook without change fees,” the airline said in a statement to USA TODAY on Monday. “Customers can reschedule their travel on aa.com or by contacting Reservations at 800-433-7300 in the United States or Canada. American will continue tracking this system with our customers’ and team members’ safety top of mind.”
Not all the disruptions are due to the storm, which made landfall in Florida Monday morning. There was also severe weather in the West, Midwest and East Coast on Sunday, according to the NOAA/National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center. Across airlines, upwards of one in four Sunday flights were delayed in cities as far ranging as San Diego, Detroit, Charlotte and New York.
Severe weather can also have a cascading effect on flights. And when weather is to blame, travelers are often stuck in a bind because airlines are not required to offer anything but refunds or rebooking when cancellations are outside their control. Here’s what travelers should know.
What happens if my flight is canceled?
Department of Transportation rules require all airlines to offer customers a refund if their flights are canceled for any reason. Customers may be entitled to additional compensation if a cancellation is within the airline’s control. However weather is notably outside of airline control.
According to the DOT’s consumer dashboard, if Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue or United cancel a flight for controllable reasons, they’re committed to:
- rebooking passengers on the same airline or a partner airline, at no extra cost
- providing a meal or cash or voucher for a meal when the cancellation results in a passenger waiting at least 3 hours for a new flight
- providing complimentary hotel accommodations for any passenger affected by an overnight cancellation
- providing complimentary ground transportation to and from a hotel for any passenger affected by an overnight cancellation
Allegiant, Southwest and Spirit will do all of the above except they do not rebook customers on partner airlines.
Frontier will not rebook travelers on other airlines nor cover a hotel for overnight cancellations.
What happens if a flight is delayed?
No federal laws currently require airlines to compensate travelers for delayed flights, but carriers have committed to various degrees of compensation for significant delays within their control. Each airline defines significant delays differently.
If a flight is significantly delayed for reasons within their control, Alaska, American, Delta, Jet Blue and United offer:
- rebooking passengers on the same airline or a partner airline, at no extra cost
- providing a meal or cash or voucher for a meal when the delay results in a passenger waiting for at least 3 hours for departure
- providing complimentary hotel accommodations for any passenger affected by an overnight delay
- providing complimentary ground transportation to and from a hotel for any passenger affected by an overnight delay
Allegiant, Hawaiian, Southwest and Spirit do not rebook travelers on partner airlines, but offer the rest of the above. Additionally Alaska, JetBlue and Southwest also offer additional compensation when the flight is delayed by 3 or more hours for controllable reasons.
Frontier will offer the meal, but no hotel accommodations nor booking on other airlines.
What should I do if my flight is delayed?
Airlines will sometimes offer compensation beyond what they’ve formally committed to with the Department of Transportation.
For instance, according to Delta’s Customer Commitment, “Delta representatives are empowered with the flexibility and discretion to issue the following forms of compensation for passenger inconvenience when individual circumstances warrant doing so: cash equivalents (e.g., gift cards), travel credits/vouchers, and/or miles for SkyMiles members.”
Travel insurance can help offset costs tied to covered cancellations and delays.
Some credit card companies also cover unexpected travel expenses related to flight disruptions, if the flight was originally booked with their card.
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