Airlines that fly in the US are not legally obligated to provide any compensation for a delayed passenger. They are however, required to compensate passengers who have a reservation but are denied boarding, also known as getting bumped from the flight.
We all want a safe flight regardless of the weather or mechanical failures. And we all know the airlines will push the weather conditions and delays onto us. But want about all the other delays? In the past year I took 5 flights; 3 personal and 2 business. (FYI – I use to travel 5 days a week for 8 years for work – I left that job because the air travel was taking up too much time.)
But I want to talk about my 3 personal fights.
- Delta: I had international flight and a lay over in ATL. While in ATL we were delayed 2.5 hours because the crew was waiting to transport airplane parts to a waiting plane in DTW (my destination). I don’t understand how they have the rights (or balls) to delay almost 200 passengers so that they can repair a mechanical issue on another flight by delaying ours.
- Spirit – (yes I broke down twice and thought their cheap fairs were a deal until…) Flights 2 and 3 were both Spirit. The first flight was a 6:30 am flight. At 6:35 they announced there were mechanical errors with the plane. (I seem to recall it was a radio problem, but it doesn’t matter, safety is number one, and the plane was in no condition to fly.) Also at 6:35 they announced the flight would be delayed until 12:30 pm that day. Yes 6 hours later. At exactly 12:30 they announced it was going to be another 2 hours. Had they notified me at 4:00 in the morning before I left for the airport, I could have rested at home, instead I was trapped in the airport for the whole day. The flight actually left that afternoon at 3:00. 8.5 hours after the original flight time. For compensation the airlines offer 2 different sets of meal tickets (total of $30 per person) and a $50 credit for any new booking on Spirit.
All the time we were sitting waiting for our flight to board. The gate next to us, also Spirit, was over booked to New York and looking for passengers to give up their seat for the next flight in 2 hours. For compensation of their 2 hour delay they would receive a round trip ticket on Spirit.
But let me talk about how inconvenienced I really was on this 8.5 hours delay. I took the whole day off work to make a 6:30 am flight. That extra 8.5 hours added a full day expense to the long term parking. And my trip was only 48 hours – so that took a whole day away from weekend.
And so I used the $50 credit and this is what I experienced…
- The second flight I flew with Spirit was almost the same deal as flight number 2. It was a 3:30 pm flight that ended up being cancelled, guest were offered to get their flight refunded or be assigned a seat on the 8:00 pm. Flight.
For those that waited for the next flight at 8:00 we were given a voucher of $50 to use on our next flight with Spirit.
We were not told what the actual delay was, but the passengers came to the conclusion, it was cheaper for Spirit to cancel the 3:30 flight and add us to the 8:00 pm flight.
I’m not sure what to do about this except continue to report and complain to the airlines directly. But had they noticed that I was a customer that was on a flight less than 3 weeks before that was also delayed – they may have the opportunity to treat me differently. Because Spirit is no longer an option for me, cheap and delayed is not good customer service.
If WE all stood up and insisted that airlines must provide a flight on time and safe otherwise it affects their bottom line, we will always be waiting for the airlines to take care of themselves before the paying passenger.
I believe safety is number one when flying. But it should be the airlines responsibility to have a safe and ready plane available to depart at the time scheduled, otherwise the passengers should be heavily compensated. Even if they are compensated more than the cost of the flight. (maybe this would ensure the airlines have working planes) A 8.5 hour delay is a full work day for most people, and if you are going to take our valuable time away, that show us what it is worth.
The legal requirements for the US and Europe are very different – the EU requires airlines to compensate passengers for delays based on distance of the flight and total time delayed.