What are your rights if your flight is delayed or canceled? It can depend on the weather.
- A winter storm is causing travel disruptions across the Southeast, leading to numerous flight cancellations and travel waivers from airlines.
- While airlines are offering waivers for impacted travelers, they are not required to provide compensation for weather-related cancellations.
- Travelers experiencing disruptions should contact their airline directly and be prepared with alternative flight options.
Air travelers are continuing to feel the effects of a rare winter storm that swept across the Southeast on Tuesday.
More than 1,800 U.S. flights are canceled and more than 2,900 others are delayed as of 3:20 p.m. ET Wednesday, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.
Those cancellations include more than a third of the flights out of George Bush Intercontinental Airport and William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, which resumed operations Wednesday morning, after temporarily shutting down for the storm. Cities like Atlanta, New Orleans, and Jacksonville, Florida are also seeing major cancellations.
Many airlines are offering travel waivers to impacted travelers. Here's what you're owed if your flight is canceled or delayed.
Which airlines are offering waivers?
Weather waivers vary by airline and airport and only apply to certain windows of time, so be sure to check the details for yours below.
- American Airlines: Flights scheduled through Jan. 23
- Delta Air Lines: Flights scheduled through Jan. 22
- Frontier Airlines: Flights scheduled through Jan. 21
- JetBlue Airways: Flights scheduled through Jan. 23
- Southwest Airlines: Houston fights scheduled through Jan. 23 and other flights scheduled through Jan. 22
- Spirit Airlines: Flights scheduled through Jan. 22
- United Airlines: Flights scheduled through Jan. 24
What does an airline owe you if your flight is canceled?
If your flight is canceled for any reason, you are entitled to a refund if you choose not to travel.
When a flight is canceled for reasons within an airline's control, travelers who choose to stick it out are eligible for compensation or accommodations, like rebooking on another flight or airline at no added cost, lodging or meal vouchers, and other benefits. Weather is notably outside an airline’s control.
The Department of Transportation has created a dashboard for travelers to easily access information about services U.S. airlines provide in the case of controllable cancellations or delays.
Click here to access the DOT Cancellation and Delay Dashboard.
What is a controllable cancellation or delay?
According to the DOT, a controllable cancellation or delay is one caused by the airline itself. Controllable reasons include maintenance or crew problems, cabin cleaning, baggage loading and fueling. Things like weather or air traffic control flow programs do not count against the airline.
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What happens if a flight is delayed?
A new DOT rule that went into effect in late October requires airlines to refund passengers if their flight is significantly delayed for reasons within the carrier's control. It also makes airlines more responsible for following their own customer commitments in those cases.
If your flight is delayed significantly for a reason within the airline's control, you are entitled to a refund if you choose not to travel. If you decide to stick it out, you may be entitled to some compensation or accommodation, including rebooking on another flight or airline at no cost, meal and lodging vouchers for qualifying delays, and other benefits if the delay was controllable.
No U.S. airlines currently offer cash compensation for delays, but the big four (American, Delta, Southwest and United) all offer hotel and ground transportation vouchers for controllable overnight delays.
Airline-specific details can be found on the DOT's dashboard.
What is a significant delay?
The DOT defines a significant delay as a departure or arrival that is three hours late or more for a domestic flight, or six hours late or more for an international flight.
What to do if your flight is canceled or delayed
Look up your airline's policies and be your own advocate. Get in touch with the airline however you can, whether it's through the app, through social media, by phone or at the airport help desk if you're already on your way.
It's good to have some alternative flights in mind when you speak to an agent, and be sure to ask for any accommodation or refunds you may be entitled to if you plan to take advantage of those policies.
Contributing: Josh Rivera, Paste BN
(This story was updated with new information.)