Finally! Airlines Will Have To Pay Customers If Flights Are Delayed
Flight delays will still cost you time and aggravation, but thanks to new federal regulations they won’t cost you as much money.
The Department of Transportation announced yesterday a slew of major changes to airline policies that will require carriers to automatically give cash refunds to fliers for canceled or significantly delayed flights.
Previously, what qualified as a "significant" change used to be determined by airlines and differed among the carriers. The new rules define "significant" as anything delayed by more than three hours for a domestic flight and six hours for international trips. It also includes departures or arrivals from a different airport, changes to a lower class of service or connections at different airports.
Well hot damn, show me the money because, based on how screwed up things have been in recent months with flying in general, three-hour delays are almost becoming part of the norm!
Did our government FINALLY do something right?!
… BUT THAT'S NOT ALL
The new guidelines will also benefit those of us who have purchased perks, like in-flight WiFi, that we don't actually get.
We've all been there before. You purchase the Wi-Fi only to get in the air and for it suddenly not to work whatsoever when you suddenly realize that you're now going to be stuck pondering about your life for the duration of th flight rather than listening to Joe Rogan's podcast or your favorite musician.
Well, guess what - you will now be refunded for that as well!
The guideline adjustments will now force airlines to refund passengers if amenities such as WiFi, in-flight entertainment and other perks don't work. Baggage fees will also be refunded for any luggage that goes missing or is delayed for over 12 hours!
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?
In a statement, Secretary Buttigieg said that, "Passengers deserve to get their money back when an airline owes them -- without headaches or haggling." Aint that the damn truth. Flying these days has become an absolute mess and at times more frustrating than going to the dreaded DMV!
Airlines will still be able to offer another flight or a travel credit instead of money, but the passenger is allowed to reject the offer as part of the new Passenger Bill of Rights - so make sure to tell your friends and family about the new policies that must be implemented within six months.
NEW GUIDELINES WILL START WITHIN 6 MONTHS
The new rules come after Southwest Airlines was fined $140 million for the operational mess that ruined hundreds of thousands of passengers 2022 Christmas vacations. That's after the airline industry received over $54 billion from the Covid Relief Act.
It will be interesting to see what happens next. One of my biggest concerns is that with many airlines already struggling just to get by with how things are going already, will the immediate cash refunds hurt the entire industry even more?
So yes, the new rules are a giant W for all of us that fly. But as with all things that the government gets their hands on, something tells me that this may not work out entirely to our favor.
We'll find out soon - just wait and see if the airlines now put their new additional costs onto ticket fares.