Mark Pestronk
Q: With so many of my agency's clients taking flights over the Christmas and New Year's holidays, and with airlines still short-staffed and aircraft still parked in the desert, there are bound to be a lot of delays, cancellations and bumpings. Can you give us some legal advice to give to clients that may be facing these problems over the coming weeks?
A: The main point to keep in mind is that for domestic flights that are delayed or canceled, passengers have no legal right to compensation. The DOT enforcement policy is to require a refund if the flight is canceled or significantly delayed, but the policy is not legally enforceable by passengers themselves.
Since passengers have no legal rights, it follows that airlines are not legally required to provide meals or hotel vouchers in cases of cancellations. Although some airlines may have a policy of offering these amenities, there is no legal way to force them to do so if they decline.
It also follows that carriers have no liability for losses arising from delayed or canceled domestic flights, such as missed connections, missed cruise departures and missed weddings and funerals. The absence of legal rights will undoubtedly come as a shock to some of your clients who experience these losses, so it is probably good to educate them in advance.
In the absence of legal rights, passengers have two options. First, they can ask the airline for what they want, such as a transfer to another flight on the same or another carrier, but if the airline does so, it does so as a gesture of goodwill. Second, they can help themselves by calling your agency and booking another flight and then dealing with the refund later on.
Either way, the passenger needs to take the initiative. That is why the foremost experts on air travel advise travelers always to have a backup plan that can be executed in case of a long delay or cancellation.
Bumping occurs when the carrier operates the flight but fails to honor your ticketed reservation because of overselling. Overselling has been legal since the 1960s, and the federal government has required carriers to pay compensation (in addition to a refund) to bumped passengers. The DOT rule requires airlines to ask for volunteers before bumping anyone involuntarily, and the amount the carrier pays you is negotiable.
If you get bumped, the amount that the airline is legally required to pay you for involuntarily denying you boarding is $775 (for one- to- two-hour domestic delays) or $1,550 (for domestic delays of more than two hours).
The DOT rules require you to have had a confirmed reservation, checked in on time and arrived at the gate on time. No compensation is due when an airline switches to a smaller airplane or when the bump is due to weight and balance issues on an aircraft with 60 or fewer seats.
One more thing: The airline cannot bump you once it has honored your boarding pass and allowed you to board.