Those Canceled Flights Get Attention from DOT

Canceled flights, endless travel delays, and the new normal of getting stuck at the airport – while not behind us, these all too common conditions are finally getting the attention and action they deserve from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation. While they have not yet receive wrangling from Congress from a new bill champion by Senators Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), they are getting a new website to check, launching this week by the DOT. 

Throughout 2022, Americans have experience an unprecedent  level of ongoing cancel flights and travel delays. When these disruptions occur, airlines are required to support passengers base on commitments made in their customer service plans, but too often passengers find those plans are difficult to understand and do not guarantee needed services, such as meals or hotel accommodations when they must wait overnight at an airport. These conditions remain true even for flights that are delays or cancel because of carrier mechanical and staffing operations. To ensure the traveling public has easy access to this information, the U.S. Department of Transportation today roll out a new airline customer service dashboard, which includes recent improvements to customer service made by airlines at the urging of Secretary Buttigieg.   

Canceled Flights 

Two weeks ago, Secretary Buttigieg wrote a letter to airline CEOs informing them that DOT would publish the dashboard before Labor Day and urge the airlines to improve their customer service plans before the release. As a result, all but one of the ten largest U.S. airlines made significant changes to their plans to improve services provides to passengers when their flights are cancel or delay because of an airline issue. No airline unconditionally guarantee meal vouchers or hotels prior to this urging. Now, nine of the 10 guarantee meals and eight of the 10 guarantee hotel accommodations when an airline issue causes the delay or cancels the flight.  

The dashboard provides air travelers a one-stop location to obtain information on the services and amenities they should receive from airlines if they experience delays or flight cancellations that are cause by something within the airline’s control like a mechanical or staffing issue.  Weather is not an element that is cover under these guidelines. 

The dashboard also provides a clear comparison of amenities the airlines have committs to provide, which could assist consumers in deciding which airline to fly. 

And the new endeavor has teeth. The DOT will hold airlines accountable if they fail to provide the promise services. The Department has also provided direct links to airlines’ customer service plans on its Aviation Consumer Protection website. 

Passengers Deserve

“Passengers deserve transparency and clarity on what to expect from an airline when there is a cancelation or disruption,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “This dashboard collects that information in one place so travelers can easily understand their rights, compare airline practices, and make informed decisions. The Department will continue to support passengers and to hold airlines responsible for adhering to their customer obligations.” 

Regardless of the cause of the delays or cancel flights, the Department expects airlines to provide timely and responsive customer service during and after periods of flight disruptions. Moreover, regardless of the cause of significant delays or flight cancellations, airlines are requires to provide prompt refunds to ticket passengers should a passenger choose not to accept the alternative offer such as rebooking on another flight. 

Canceled Flights: The Department’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection (OACP) recently conclude an investigation of 10 airlines and is pursuing enforcement action against them for extreme delays in providing refunds for flights the airlines cancel or significantly change. The Office is also actively investigating the refund practices of additional airlines flying to, from, or within the United States. In November of last year, OACP issued its largest fine ever against an airline for extreme delays in providing refunds to thousands of consumers for flights to or from the United States that a carrier cancel. 

Cash Refunds

Meanwhile, S.4665, the Cash Refunds for Flight Cancellations Act that was introduces to US lawmakers in early August, seeks to provide consumers an enforceable right to a full cash refund for flight and ticket cancellations. The bill would:

*Require a cover airline or ticket agent to offer a full cash refund within 30 days if the airline cancels or significantly delays a flight, or if a passenger cancels their ticket for any flight up until 48 hours of the schedule departure time. Travel vouchers can offer as an alternative to cash refunds, as long as that offer includes a clear and conspicuous notice of the flyer’s right to a cash refund  — and the voucher is valid and redeemable indefinitely.

*Canceled Flights Require a covered carrier or ticket agent to disclose to the passenger, prior to purchasing a ticket, that they can cancel their flight and receive a full cash refund.

*Require a cover carrier or ticket agent to disclose to the passenger whose flight was canceled or significantly delayed that they have a right to receive a full cash refund.

*Authorize a $1,000 civil penalty on an airline for failing to provide a full cash refund to a passenger within 30 days.

The DOT estimates that roughly 20 percent of the more than 2.73 million flights schedule this summer suffer delays and with another 3% result in cancel flights.