Airlines Offer Refunds and Fee-Free Rebooking as FAA Ground Stop Disrupts U.S. Flights
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Nov 13
Airlines Offer Refunds and Fee-Free Rebooking as FAA Ground Stop Disrupts U.S. Flights
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Nov 13
Summary
U.S. airlines are rebooking travelers and issuing refunds for canceled, significantly delayed or changed flights after an air traffic control outage triggered an FAA ground stop.
Because the disruption is not the airlines’ fault, passenger support is narrower: carriers generally do not have to provide hotel rooms, ground transportation or meal vouchers.
United, Delta and Alaska have issued travel waivers letting customers change or cancel flights without change fees or fare differences, while experts urged passengers to rebook quickly through apps or less-crowded international call lines.
Tarmac-delay rules still apply during the disruption: airlines must provide water and a snack within 2 hours and allow deplaning within 3 hours for domestic flights or 4 hours for international ones.
Travel analysts warned the outage would not be a quick fix and said flight disruptions were likely to ripple into the weekend, making hotels and alternate transport such as trains worth considering.