President Biden Announces Flight Delay Compensation Rulemaking
FlyersRights welcomes this long overdue initiative by the DOT to compensate airline passengers for meals, overnight stays, and prohibit rebooking charges for lengthy delays and cancellations caused by airlines.
Under present law for domestic flights, there is no delay compensation required unless the passenger is bumped from an overbooked flight. Passengers are entitled only to a refund for the portion of a flight cancelled by an airline upon their request for an “involuntary refund”, but most airlines offer only vouchers or bookings on future flights of the same airline.
For international flights, compensation of $275 to several thousand dollars for airline caused delays is a available. See "Know Your Rights" on FlyersRights' website.
No mention is made of airlines being required to book delayed passengers on another competing airline with available space as long sought by FlyersRights.org. See reciprocity rulemaking petition.
As noted by FlyersRights.org President Paul Hudson in recent testimony to the Senate Commerce Committee on the Southwest Airlines December meltdown cancelling over 16,000 flights affecting 2.5 million passengers over the holiday season due to computer failures, only with delay compensation will airlines be financially incentivized to improve reliability by investing in needed reserves and infrastructure. As without delay compensation, airlines with unreliable service save expenses and can increase profit margins.
