My flight is delayed…does the airline pay?!

With shortages of pilots, air traffic controllers, luggage valets, engineers, and the all-too-common excuse of “weather,” it has become commonplace to make the airport a temporary home after a flight delay or cancellation.

While you scramble to find another flight or even food and a hotel, airlines seemingly get a pass for any excuse they may provide for why you are not making it to your destination at the time and date you originally planned for. If your flight is cancelled, and you choose to cancel your itinerary, the airline is required to reimburse you for the unused transportation, including any baggage fees paid, but whether in a credit or refund in method of payment is usually not a choice made by the passenger.

However, surprisingly, there are no regulations that require airlines to compensate you if your scheduled flight is unable to take off at its scheduled time. The United States Department of Transportation leaves each airline to create its own policies to compensate you for your time and inconvenience.

Airline Client Dashboard

Luckily, the DOT released an Airline Client Dashboard that provides a quick, basic guide to what some airlines offer for cancellations. It includes airline commitments for both controllable cancellations and controllable delays.

Airline Customer Service Dashboard, U.S. Department of Transportation

The DOT states that, “A controllable flight cancellation or delay is essentially a delay or cancellation caused by the airline. Examples include maintenance or crew problems; cabin cleaning; baggage loading; and fueling.”

Airline Policies

Each airline provides its policies online and many contain guarantees of what they will do should your flight be cancelled or delayed. Some of the biggest airlines provide these mitigation structures:

Delta

In order to mitigate inconveniences due to a delay, cancellation, or irregular operation:

• Delta will rebook you on the next available flight on Delta at no additional cost. If a Delta flight is unavailable, will arrange an alternative flight operated by another airline with which they have a ticketing agreement at no additional cost. Delta will make every reasonable effort to reroute your checked baggage on the same flight as you.
• Delta representatives are given the ability, at their 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.
• When a delay, misconnect, or cancellation is within Delta’s control, Delta willprovide complimentary hotel accommodations at Delta-contracted facilities, based on availability, as well as complimentary ground transportation to and from the hotel, if you are inconvenienced overnight while away from your home or destination. If a Delta-contracted hotel accommodation is unavailable and you book your own accommodations while inconvenienced overnight away from your home or destination, Delta will reimburse reasonable costs for your hotel room and ground transportation to and from the hotel. If accommodations are unavailable, Delta will compensate you with a credit commensurate in value with the Delta-contracted hotel rate.
• If a cancellation or delay results in waiting 3 or more hours beyond the scheduled departure time, Delta will provide a meal or meal voucher.

Delta. “Customer Commitment”

American Airlines

If your inconvenience is caused by American Airlines:

• In cases where a delay or cancellation is caused by American Airlines, they say that they “will” provide:
  • A voucher for an approved hotel with available rooms if you are delayed overnight.
  • Transportation to a hotel and back to the airport by hotel shuttle / third-party transportation service, or a transportation voucher.
  • Meal vouchers if your delay is 3 or more hours after your scheduled departure.
• If your flight is diverted to another city and we don’t board to your final destination before 11:59 p.m., American will give you:
  • A voucher for an approved hotel with available rooms.
  • Transportation to a hotel and back to the airport by hotel shuttle / third-party transportation service, or a transportation voucher.
  • Meal vouchers if you are delayed in the diversion city for more than 3 hours.
• If they cannot provide you with a voucher for an approved hotel, they will reimburse you for reasonable hotel costs. If a hotel shuttle / third-party transportation service isn’t available, or American can’t provide you with a transportation voucher, they will reimburse you for reasonable transportation costs.

If your inconvenience is beyond American Airlines’ control:

• If the delay or cancellation is caused by events beyond American Airlines’ control (like weather) the passenger is responsible for their own overnight accommodations, meals and incidental expenses. However, American Airlines agents may be able to help you find a hotel.

American Airlines. “Customer Service Plan”

United

Here are some of the things we will do if your flight is delayed or canceled:

• United will get you on the next flight available seats in the same cabin you’re traveling in at no additional cost.
• If your same-day cancellation or delay is caused by something within United’s control and a United flight is unavailable until the next day, United will NOT book you on a partner airline’s flight unless YOU ask.
• For cancellations or delays within United’s control, like mechanical issues, that result in your waiting for more than three hours, they will provide a digital or printed meal voucher.
  • Again, United recommends that YOU ask for the voucher.
• When a delay or cancellation within United’s control, like a mechanical issue, keeps you away from your home city and you need to stay overnight, they will give you digital or printed hotel vouchers that can be used at a partner hotel.
  • If they are unable to offer you a hotel voucher because a room at one of our hotel partners is not available, and you find and pay for a different place to stay, you can submit your receipt to our Customer Care Team, for “reasonable” reimbursement.
    • If you stay the night at a hotel nearby because of a delay or cancellation within our control, and the hotel doesn’t provide a shuttle or ride from the airport, they will give you a voucher for the reasonable cost of a ride to the hotel.

United Airlines. “Our United Customer Commitment.” https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/customer-commitment.html

If you find yourself in a situation where your flight has been canceled or delayed, always try to speak to the airline’s representative. They know their policies best. In many cases, the airline relies on you to ask, so do not hesitate! And remember a little kindness can go a long way! Happy flying!

Authored by Marjorie Levine, Esq.