American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and several of the nation’s other top carriers are spelling out their policies on giving meal and hotel vouchers to passengers stranded by airline-caused delays and cancellations after regulators threatened tougher rules following a summer of travel turmoil.
Putting those policies in writing is a response to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s increasing pressure on airlines to take care of passengers after a year of elevated delays and cancellations. In an Aug. 19 letter to airline executives, Buttigieg told them, “We are also contemplating options for rulemaking that would further expand the rights of airline passengers who experience disruptions.”
He also specifically asked airlines to update their customer service plans to give customers food for airline-caused delays of more than three hours. Those plans show what airlines promise to do after selling a passenger a ticket, spelling out everything from check-in times to what to do when bags are lost or damaged.
Until now, airlines have been reluctant to clarify exactly when and how passengers would be compensated with meals and hotels during delays. Carriers’ policies actually tended to be much clearer on when they weren’t responsible for paying for lodging and food.
Even under the updated policies, passengers are still responsible for covering their own food, taxis and hotel rooms if delays and cancellations are caused by weather or air traffic control. It now could become easier to get relief if airlines experience pilot and flight attendant staffing issues or passengers get bumped from a flight.
The Department of Transportation also said it plans to launch a new online dashboard on its Aviation Consumer Protection website Friday.
Here’s what the new rules say at some of the biggest airlines in the Dallas-Fort Worth area:
American Airlines
Fort Worth-based American Airlines updated its online Customer Service page Tuesday, adding new sections for “flight delays and cancellations caused by us.” The airline said it will provide the following when a “significant delay or cancellation is caused by us”:
•A voucher for an approved hotel with available rooms if you are delayed overnight.
•Transportation to a hotel and back to the airport by hotel shuttle or third-party transportation service, or a transportation voucher.
•Meal vouchers if the delay is three or more hours after the scheduled departure.
American Airlines spokesman Curtis Blessing said the carrier didn’t change any policies, just the wording in its documentation.
The old plan, however, only said that American was not responsible for meals, hotels and other costs if a “delay or cancellation is caused by events beyond our control (like weather),” according to an archived version of American Airlines’ website on Archive.org.
Southwest Airlines
Dallas-based Southwest Airlines also said it will start providing a meal voucher to customers “upon request at the airport for participating vendors within the airport” after flight delays and cancellations caused by the airline. Southwest’s updated Customer Service plan was also published Tuesday.
Southwest said it also “may provide complimentary snacks and beverages for customers” and give reimbursement if airport staff runs out of vouchers.
Those accommodations only kick in on delays of three hours or longer.
United Airlines
Chicago-based United Airlines’ updated terms also said it will cover meal and hotel costs for airline-caused delays and cancellations over three hours.
“This voucher can be used for the reasonable cost of a meal at airport food vendors,” United’s updated website said. “If you don’t automatically get one, just ask us.”
The same goes for hotels. United also will reimburse hotel expenses up to $200 or “provide a higher reimbursement amount if you demonstrate that a reasonable cost for a hotel is higher than $200 for that location.”
Delta Air Lines
For overnight delays caused by the carrier, Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines said it will put passengers up in “Delta-contracted facilities, based on availability, as well as complimentary ground transportation to and from the hotel.”
It will also reimburse “reasonable” costs for hotels and ground transportation if one of Delta’s partner hotels isn’t available. If there aren’t hotels available, which can happen during severe cancellation and delay events, Delta said it will give customers a credit equal to the value of a hotel voucher.
Delta’s meal voucher policy matches that of the other airlines.
Spirit Airlines
While Spirit’s own contract of carriage said it “assumes no responsibility for personal or business expenses incurred by a guest as a result of a flight delay, cancellation, or schedule change,” the company updated its plan to say it will cover hotels and meals for “non-local” passengers during delays of longer than three hours or cancellations caused by the carrier.
“Spirit may provide limited amenities and services, which may be required by certain guests in order to maintain their safety, health and welfare,” the company’s document said. “Amenities provided by Spirit are provided as a courtesy to the guest and are not to be considered an obligation of Spirit.”
However, Spirit said it won’t provide lodging to travelers whose flights are delayed or canceled in their originating city, according to Spirit’s consumer documents updated Tuesday.
The policy updates arrive ahead of the extended Labor Day weekend, when nearly 12.7 million passengers are expected to travel through the nation’s airports between Thursday and Monday.
DFW International Airport expects to host over 501,000 departing passengers over the five-day period, making it the fourth-busiest airport in the country this weekend. Dallas Love Field is expecting 136,436 passengers.
The unofficial last hurrah of summer comes as passengers and regulators are reaching a breaking point, complaints soar and airlines continue to struggle to get planes to their destinations on time, if they get them there at all. The Department of Transportation’s latest data for June showed that airline complaints are up 270% compared to 2019 and nearly every airline is canceling and delaying a higher percentage of flights.
Airlines have trimmed schedules to help create more flight stability, but this summer there have also been issues with weather, problems with air traffic control and a shortage of pilots forcing cuts to regional airlines.
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