Airlines must now provide automatic refunds for delayed and canceled flights

Airlines have now been told to issue automatic refunds under a new Department of Transportation rule that went into effect this week.

Flyers are now guaranteed a refund if a flight is delayed or canceled, and they don’t have to file any paperwork.

Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday that the new regulations are an effort to incentivize airlines to minimize flight disruptions, delays or cancellations.

“If an airline knows that all passengers – rather than just a few passengers on a canceled flight – are likely to actually get their money back, this gives them another set of reasons to invest and the realistic planning that reduces these cancellations. That will probably happen initially,” he said when the new ordinance was announced.

Airlines have now been told that automatic refunds should be made for ‘significant changes’ to a flight

The new regulations also come with a strict definition of what constitutes a ‘significant change’, which previously varied from airline to airline.

Under the new law, a ‘significant change’ is defined as any change to a flight that causes a delay of three hours or more for domestic flights and a delay of at least six hours for international flights.

Refunds will also be provided automatically if a passenger is downgraded to a lower class of service or to an aircraft less suitable for a passenger with disabilities.

Any changes to a flight’s departure or arrival airport or adding a connection will also result in an automatic refund. As well as when a passenger paid to select a particular seat but was forced to sit elsewhere.

Under the new regulations, if checked baggage is not delivered to the gate within 12 hours of a domestic flight or within 15 to 30 hours of arrival of an international flight, airlines must now refund any checked baggage fees paid by passengers.

The new regulations also come with a strict definition of what constitutes a ‘significant change’, which previously varied from airline to airline.

The new scheme also applies to any significant delays in baggage claims, with refunds taking place after 12 hours for a domestic flight and 15-30 hours for an international flight arriving at the gates.

However, for baggage claim refunds, the passenger must first file a mishandled baggage report with an airline.

It also applies to all flyers who have used and paid for an airline’s Wi-Fi. If passengers pay for the service on board and it does not work properly, they will be refunded the cost of the service.

The DOT’s latest rule makes it easy for passengers to receive a refund without having to navigate paperwork or spend hours on the phone.

On their website they state: ‘Plus, so would passengers [previously] “Receive a travel credit or voucher by default from some airlines instead of getting their money back, so they can’t sue or rebook their refund on another airline when their flight is changed or canceled without going through a cumbersome application process.”

Their new rule means that refunds will be issued automatically and quickly, in cash or via the original payment method, and for the full amount of the ticket purchase price.

Ahead of the holidays, a new survey this month revealed a list of airlines expected to experience the most delays.

The Office of Aviation Consumer Protection has released its October 2024 Air Travel Consumer Report, aimed at helping customers navigate the quality of services offered by airlines.

A report from the Office of Aviation Consumer Protection identified the airline with the worst expected on-time flight arrivals. JetBlue Airways found that 60.75 percent of flights may arrive on time

Although United Airlines still underperformed based on on-time flight rates, it ranked No. 10, with the exception of 74.9 percent of flights arriving on time

In its report, the airline expected to experience the biggest delays during the holidays was JetBlue Airways, concluding that 60.75 percent of flights might arrive on time.

Second place was taken by Frontier Airlines, with 65.2 percent of flights expected to arrive on time.

American Airlines ranked third with 66.7 percent and Spirit came in fourth with 67.1 percent of flights expected to be on time during the season.

The top performer in the report, although still underperforming based on on-time flight rates issued by the government agency, was United Airlines.

United is expected to have 74.9 percent of its flights arrive on time, followed by Republic Airways at 74 percent and Alaska Airlines at 73.8 percent.

Endeavor Air, a subsidiary of Delta Airlines, is expected to have 73.5 percent of its flights arrive on time during the holiday season. Unfortunately, that is four percent lower than the usual rate of on-time flights from the August OACP report.

Allegiant Air followed closely with 73.2 percent, and PSA Airlines had a 72.5 percent expected probability of arriving on time – down from 80.6 percent of on-time arrivals earlier this year.