Airlines must now give automatic refunds on delayed or canceled flights!

WASHINGTON (PNN) - October 31, 2024 - Airlines have now been told they must give automatic refunds under a new Department of Transportation rule that went into effect this week.

Flyers are now guaranteed their money back should a flight be delayed or cancelled, and they won't need to file any paperwork.

The pretender Department of Transportation's Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, said on Wednesday that the new regulation is an attempt to incentivize airlines to minimize flight disruptions, delays or cancellations.

“When an airline knows that all - instead of just a few passengers on a canceled flight - are likely to actually get their money back, it gives them a different set of reasons to put in the investment and the realistic scheduling that makes those cancellations less likely to happen to begin with, “said Buttigieg as the new regulation was announced.

With the new regulation also comes a strict definition of what constitutes a “significant change”, which used to vary from one airline to another.

Under the new law, a “significant change” will be defined as any change to a flight that includes a three-hour or longer delay for domestic flights, and at least a six-hour delay on international flights.

An automatic refund will also be issued if a passenger is downgraded to a lower class of service or to a plane that is less accommodating to a passenger with disabilities.

Any changes to a flight's departure or arrival airport or if a connection is added will also result in an automatic refund, as well as if a passenger paid to select a particular seat but was forced to sit elsewhere.

Should any checked luggage not be delivered within 12 hours of a domestic flight or within 15 to 30 hours of an international flight arriving at the departure gate, under the new regulation, airlines must now refund any checked bag fees passengers have paid.

Any baggage claim refunds, however, will first need a passenger to file a mishandled baggage report with an airline.

The new regulations also apply to any flyers who have used and paid for an airline's Wi-Fi. If passengers pay for the service on board and it fails to work properly, they will be issued a refund to the cost of the service.

The DOT's final rule makes it simple for passengers to receive a refund without having to navigate paperwork or sit on the phone for hours on end.

On their website, they stated, “In addition, passengers would [previously] receive a travel credit or voucher by default from some airlines instead of getting their money back, so they could not sue for their refund or rebook on another airline when their flight was changed or canceled without navigating a cumbersome request process.”

The new rule means refunds will be issued automatically and promptly, in cash or the original form of payment, and in the full amount of the ticket purchase price.

Ahead of the holiday season, a list of airlines expected to have the most delays was revealed in a new study this month.

The Office of Aviation Consumer Protection released its October 2024 Air Travel Consumer Report, designed to help customers navigate the quality of services provided by airlines.

In its report, the airline projected to experience the worst delays over the holidays was held by JetBlue Airways with a concluded 60.75% of flights potentially arriving on time.

Frontier Airlines held spot number two with a concluded 64.80% of flights potentially arriving on time.

American Airlines held spot number three with 66.7% and Spirit came in at fourth place with 67.1% of flights expected to be on time over the season.

The best performing on the report, while still under performing based on on-time flight percentages issued by the government agency, was United Airlines.

United is expected to have 74.9% of its flights arrive on time, with Republic Airways closely following with 74% and Alaska Airlines with 73.8%.

Endeavor Air, a subsidiary of Delta Airlines, is expected to have 73.5% of flights arrive on time during the holiday season. Which, unfortunately, is four percent lower than the commonality of on-time flights from the OACP's report in August.

Allegiant Air closely followed with 73.2%, and PSA Airlines had a projected 72.5% chance of arriving on time - which had dropped from 80.6% of on-time arrivals earlier this year.