The 3 big questions to ask when your flight is canceled or delayed

Kyle Arnold | (TNS) The Dallas Morning News

If you’re one of the thousands of passengers who suffer from a fear of flying, here’s what to ask about hotel rooms, meals and taxis if your flight is canceled or delayed.

Getting a refund from an airline during periods of severe weather and subsequent disruptions is difficult, said Paul Hudson, executive director of passenger advocacy organization FlyersRights.

“The airlines always want to blame everything on the weather,” Hudson said. “If they blame the weather, they shouldn’t be responsible for refunds or accommodations if people are stranded.”

Can I get a refund?

Federal law gives airlines a limited number of circumstances in which they must reimburse a passenger for the cost of a ticket. If an airline cancels or overbooks a flight, passengers can get their money back and sometimes even extra compensation.

But weather and mechanical issues are not eligible for federal refunds. And when staffing issues are caused by weather delays like this week, the later delays don’t trigger automatic refunds either.

The same applies to reimbursements for hotels, meals and transport.

“Some problems, such as inclement weather, air traffic delays and mechanical problems, are difficult to predict and are often beyond the control of the airlines,” according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s website.

American Airlines does offer compensation, like hotels, for “cancellations or delays that were caused by manageable issues,” such as maintenance issues, American Airlines spokeswoman Andrea Koos said. It also gives meal vouchers for non-weather-related delays of more than three hours.

Nationally, weather accounts for about 29% of all delays over the past five years, accounting for about 256,000 hours of delays, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Maintenance issues and air traffic control delays are the other major factors that cause planes to arrive late.

Pilot unions have argued that the major problems facing the airline industry in recent months stem from airlines overscheduling flights following reduced operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That means there are fewer pilots around to catch up with pilots who have been pulled over by bad weather.

Who determines why a flight is delayed?

When flights are delayed or canceled, passengers are often at the mercy of airlines, both for reaching their destination and for obtaining compensation.

Airlines are responsible for reporting the reason for flight delays and cancellations to the US Department of Transportation. This means that airlines can decide who gets vouchers for hotels, meals and transport.

Airlines, including American, will often direct passengers to request a refund online, which can take days or weeks to resolve.

Hudson recommends complaining on social media. “You can also go on Facebook and social media and they keep a close eye on those accounts,” Hudson said. “Sometimes you get better results.”

Suing the airline or filing a complaint with the Department of Transportation are the only remaining alternatives, but suing an airline can be expensive and often take years to resolve a complaint. Hudson still urges passengers to make official complaints if there is a problem, because those complaints are sometimes key to helping regulators determine when to pass new rules.

Where can I find the rules for flying?

All US airlines outline the rules for refunds, delays and cancellations, overbooking and other customer issues on their websites. These “contracts of carriage” or “conditions of carriage” should specify what happens in the event of a delay.

The rules of American Airlines of Fort Worth state: “If you decide not to fly because your flight is delayed or canceled, we will refund the remaining ticket value and any optional fees.”

Dallas-based Southwest, which flies from Dallas Love Field, has similar rules for delays, cancellations and rerouted flights.

But Hudson also says that in the event of delays, passengers can try to take their tickets to another carrier, which sometimes honors the ticket and later charges the other airline. However, that usually doesn’t work with ultra-low-cost carriers like Frontier and Spirit.