The US Department of Transportation is releasing a website with details regarding compensation for airline cancellations and delays just in time for Labor Day travel.
The DOT intends to publish an interactive dashboard on its Aviation Consumer Protection website (Opens in a new window) by Friday, Sept. 2, the start of the busy holiday weekend, as reported by travel site Afar (Opens in a new window) .
When a cancellation or delay was caused by factors within the airline’s control, the tool described in a letter from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (Opens in a new window) from Afar seeks to assist travelers in finding “easy-to-read, comparative summer information” on the extras each of the major US airlines offers.
Information (such as how to access refunds) is dependent on the Customer Service Plans of individual businesses, each of which will have a direct link from the DOT website. Domestic airlines are already required by government laws to provide reimbursements for canceled flights.
However, it can be challenging to determine what customers are owed for delays. Moving ahead, the government requests that airlines at the very least offer meal coupons for delays of three hours or more, as well as accommodations for travelers who must wait overnight.
Buttigieg sent JetBlue Airways CEO Robin Hayes a message that read, “The kind of disruption Americans have suffered this summer is intolerable.” Over 3% of domestic flights were canceled and nearly 25% of them were delayed in the first half of 2022. As you are aware, these are not simply numbers; they also represent lost opportunities such as birthday celebrations, graduations, time spent with loved ones, and crucial meetings.
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The Department of Transportation put forward a set of regulations earlier this month that would give travelers more security if changes to airline schedules disrupt their trip.
Over the long Labor Day weekend, more than 12.5 million people are slated to travel out of US airports, according to online travel service Hopper (Opens in a new window) tipping a 20% spike in round-trip holiday flight prices over pre-pandemic pricing.
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