The Bidden-Haris government declares automatic refunds and compensation in cases of flight cancellation or delay.
The new regulatory rule makes it easier for passengers to get refunds when airlines cancel or significantly change their flights, significantly delay checked baggage or fail to provide the extra services they bought. The final rule creates certainty for consumers by setting out the specific circumstances in which airlines must provide refunds. Prior to this rule, airlines were allowed to set their own standards for the type of flight changes that warranted a refund.
The USA Department of Transportation was also receiving numerous complaints about some airlines revising and implementing less consumer-friendly refund policies during increases in cancellations and flight changes.
Passengers are entitled to reimbursement for:
- Flights cancelled or substantially modified: Passengers will be entitled to a refund if their flight is cancelled or significantly changed, i.e. the change includes departure or arrival times that are more than 3 hours domestic and 6 hours international; departures or arrivals from a different airport that increase the number of connections or instances where passengers are downgraded to a lower class of service or connections to different airports or flights on different planes that are less accessible or accommodating for a person with a disability.
- Significant delay in returning baggage: Passengers reporting incorrect baggage handling will be entitled to a refund if it is not checked in within 12 hours of the domestic flight’s arrival at the gate or 15-30 hours of the international flight’s arrival at the gate, depending on the duration of the flight.
- Not providing extra services: passengers will be entitled to a refund of the fee they paid for an extra service – such as Wi-Fi, seat selection or in-flight entertainment – if an airline does not provide this service.
Passengers usually received a travel credit or voucher from some airlines instead of getting their money back, so they could not use their refund to re-book with another airline when their flight was changed or cancelled without going through a cumbersome claim process. But the significant and radical change to this issue under the rules improves the passenger experience by requiring refunds to be automatic without passengers having to explicitly request them or go through complicated procedures.
