 | The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(May 2013) |
A flight delay occurs when an airline flight takes off and/or lands later than its scheduled time. The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) considers a flight to be delayed when it is 15 minutes later than its scheduled time. A flight cancellation occurs when the airline does not operate the flight at all for a certain reason.
In the European Union, Flight Compensation Regulation 261/2004 states that flight delays for over three hours, cancellations and denied boarding entitles passengers to a compensation from €250 up to €600 per passenger from the airline. [1]
In the United States, when flights are canceled or delayed, passengers may be entitled to compensation due to rules obeyed by every flight company, usually Rule 240, or Rule 218 in certain locations. This rule usually specifies that passengers may be entitled to certain reimbursements, including a free room if the next flight is the day after the canceled one, a choice of reimbursement, rerouting, phone calls, and refreshments. When a flight is delayed, the FAA allocates slots for takeoffs and landings based on which flight is scheduled first. [2] The US Department of Transportation imposes a fine of up to US$27,500 per passenger for planes left on the tarmac for more than three hours without taking off or four hours for international flights. [3] However, passengers are not entitled to direct monetary compensation under US law when a delay occurs. Instead, airlines are merely required to pay for lodging costs of passengers if the delay or a cancellation is through their own fault, but not if the cause is beyond their control, such as weather. [4]
If your Brazilian flight is delayed for 4 hours or more you could be eligible for compensation.
Under Brazilian legislation, if your flight is delayed for:
If the airline fails to provide you with appropriate care, you can claim cash compensation, up to €1,500 (per passenger). [5]
Since 2003, the United States Bureau of Transportation Statistics has been keeping track of the causes of flight delays. [6] The number of flight delays has increased as staff has been cut back as a result of the financial woes following the September 11 attacks. [7]
Some of the causes of flight delays or cancellation include:
In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration estimates that flight delays cost airlines $22 billion yearly. [9] This is largely because airlines are forced to pay federal authorities when they hold planes on the tarmac for more than three hours for domestic flights or more than four hours for international flights. [4]
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Flight delays are inconvenient for passengers as well. A delayed flight can be particularly costly to business travellers by causing them to miss scheduled appointments and interfering with other commitments. Furthermore, delayed passengers may suffer anger, frustration, and even air rage. [2]
Flights from the EU are universally covered by Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 regardless of where the operating carrier is headquartered. This requires airlines to pay a lump-sum compensation of up to €600 to each affected passenger if the flight is cancelled on short notice or delayed by more than three hours on arrival (four hours for long-haul flights). [1] In effect, this means that an airline can still be required to pay passengers compensation under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 even though it does not maintain a head or branch office in Europe. [10]
Besides, flights to the EU from other countries are also covered by said regulation if the airline carrying out the flight is based in a member state of the European Union. Therefore, a flight departing London to New York on American Airlines is subjected to the regulation, whereas the return journey on the same airline is not. On the other hand, if a flight from New York to London was operated by an EU carrier, such as Lufthansa or Air France, Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 would apply.
Following the transition period after the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, it is no longer treated as a member state under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 but as a third country like the US. However, the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 that came into force on 30 December 2020 retained EU legislation hitherto directly applicable and incorporated it into British domestic law. [11] Likewise, the CJEU's jurisdiction on the Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 up until the end of 2020 was converted into British case law through the same statute. Consequently, passengers travelling to and from Great Britain continue to enjoy the same legal protection on their flights as before when the country was still a member of the European Union.
Only a few other states like India and Canada have implemented passenger rights that afford lump-sum compensations to travellers suffering significant flight disruptions as well. [12] [13] Yet, respective entitlements are generally limited to cases of severe irregularities caused by the operating airline's own negligence. Hence, such provisions afford an inferior level of protection to passengers compared to European standards. [14]
Based on flight delay data from 2015 some correlations can be shown. [15] The analysis focuses on America's ten biggest airports, those are; Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, New York (JFK), Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Seattle and Charlotte. Data analysis confirms that the distribution of delays at departure is very similar to that at arrival and there is a strong correlation between the two data. Observed is namely the average time of delay per month and the tendency of delays depending on the days of the week. It is clearly noticed that the average delay of a flight was larger in February, June, July and December. This seems to be strongly correlated with holiday periods. As can be expected September has a rather low average delay. One can derive that the probability of encountering a flight delay is larger in the above-mentioned months. Also, the busiest days to be flying are mainly Mondays, Sundays and Thursdays. Fridays are also a popular day to be flying.
There are several causes for a flight to be delayed. It is interesting to look at the proportions or chances of encountering certain delay type. More than half of the fights tend to be late (this taking account minor delays such as 5 or 10 min delays). Most planes are late due to air system issues or airline delays. This is interesting because it means that it is an area of the airline industry that could be optimized. Supporting our argument, one notices that the lower amount of delays are caused due to weather and security issues. Showing us that security, for example, is optimized to a very large level and other types of delays could eventually be avoided by optimizing organization in airports or establishing a delay prevention schedule. Weather delays are rather rare and are not primary reasons for flights to be delayed.
This section illustrates performances of Airlines and Airports in being on time in 2015, the focus is on the USA's ten biggest airports, namely; Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, New York (JFK), Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Seattle and Charlotte. Delays are divided into three categories, namely "on time or small delay" (up to 15 minutes delay), "Medium delay" (15 – 45 minutes delay) and "Large delay" ( 45 minutes delay). In this way the graphic representation is more understandable as well as the possibility of directly comparing the variables related with delays. As represented one can observe that Airlines that were particularly good at being on time compared to other airlines were Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. Those that tend to have a larger delay are Spirit Airlines, American Southeast Airlines and Frontier Airlines. Even if some observations can be made one cannot say that one airline is better than another. The same type of analysis can be one for different airports. In this case one can observe that airports such as New York and Atlanta stand out positively, while the one with the worst frequency of delays is Chicago. However, the differences are less obvious and, generally speaking, one can conclude that airlines play a more significant role than the airports of departure. Finally, the weather variables (humidity, wind speed) and holidays are analysed. After observing that the correlation between humidity and delays is almost zero, one could notice that both the wind speed and the holidays instead have a certain impact on flight delays.
Since 2022, flights within the United States have increasingly been subject to abrupt cancellations, a phenomenon that news media outlets have dubbed 'flightmare'. It is projected that the 'flightmare' may persist until 2024. [16]
Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier group headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland. The parent company Ryanair Holdings plc includes subsidiaries Ryanair DACTooltip Designated activity company, Malta Air, Buzz, Lauda Europe and Ryanair UK. Ryanair DAC, the oldest airline of the group, was founded in 1984. Ryanair Holdings was established in 1996 as a holding company for Ryanair with the two companies having the same board of directors and executive officers. In 2019 the transition began from the airline Ryanair and its subsidiaries into separate sister airlines under the holding company. Later in 2019 Malta Air joined Ryanair Holdings.
The Montreal Convention is a multilateral treaty adopted by a diplomatic meeting of ICAO member states in 1999. It amended important provisions of the Warsaw Convention's regime concerning compensation for the victims of air disasters. The Convention attempts to re-establish uniformity and predictability of rules relating to the international carriage of passengers, baggage and cargo. Whilst maintaining the core provisions which have served the international air transport community for several decades, the treaty achieves modernization in a number of key areas. It protects passengers by introducing a two-tier liability system that eliminates the previous requirement of proving willful neglect by the air carrier to obtain more than US$75,000 in damages, which should eliminate or reduce protracted litigation.
The Air Passengers Rights Regulation 2004 is a regulation in EU law establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding, flight cancellations, or long delays of flights. It requires compensation of €250 to €600 depending on the flight distance for delays over of at least three hours, cancellations, or being denied boarding from overbooking. Delays shorter than three hours means no entitlement to any compensation of any kind even if the delay was classified as non-extraordinary. Airlines must provide refreshments and accommodation where appropriate. The Court of Justice of the European Union has interpreted passenger rights strictly, so that there are virtually no exceptions for airlines to evade their obligations for breach of contract.
Overselling or overbooking is sale of a volatile good or service in excess of actual supply. Overselling is a common practice in the travel and hospitality sectors, in which it is expected that some people will cancel. The practice occurs as an intentional business strategy in which sellers expect that some buyers will not consume all of the resources they are entitled to, or that some buyers will cancel. The practice of overselling aims to ensure that 100% of available supply will be used, resulting in the maximum return on investment. If more customers than the seller expects do wish to purchase or use the sold commodity, it may leave some customers lacking a service they expected to receive.
Federal Aviation Administration Rule 240 mandated that an airline with a delayed or canceled flight had to transfer passengers to another carrier if the second carrier could get passengers to the destination more quickly than the original airline.
An airline ticket is a document or electronic record, issued by an airline or a travel agency, that confirms that an individual is entitled to a seat on a flight on an aircraft. The airline ticket may be one of two types: a paper ticket, which comprises coupons or vouchers; and an electronic ticket.
Airline complaints are any type of formal complaint filed by an airline customer either to the airline responsible for the grievance or the government office responsible for overseeing the airlines national industry. Airline complaints generally arise out of problems experienced during air travel that were left unresolved.
The United States has an extensive air transportation network. In 2013, there were 86 airports in the U.S. that annually handled over 1,000,000 passengers each. The civil airline industry is entirely privately owned and has been largely deregulated since 1978, while most major airports are publicly owned. The three largest airlines in the world by passengers carried are U.S.-based; American Airlines is number one after its 2013 acquisition by US Airways. Of the world's 50 busiest passenger airports, 16 are in the United States, including the top five and the busiest, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. In terms of cargo, in 2015, eight of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's second-busiest, Memphis International Airport, just behind Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong. Private aircraft are also used for medical emergencies, government agencies, large businesses, and individuals.
The Regional Airline Association (RAA) is a business association founded in 1975 that represents 17 North American regional airlines and 280 associate, non-airline members. This includes manufacturers of products and services supporting the regional airline industry. The RAA is the collective bargaining voice for its members' interests and lobbies on their behalf before the United States Congress, Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration and other federal agencies. The RAA represents the financial and economic interests of regional airline employers and regional airline support industry employers. The Regional Airline Association does not represent financial or economic interest of airline employees, either union or other. The RAA is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
The European Union Persons with Reduced Mobility (PRM) legislation is intended to ensure that Persons with Reduced Mobility traveling via public transport, whether by air, land or sea, should have equal access to travel as compared to travelers with unrestricted mobility. Travel providers are compelled to provide and install sufficient access facilities to enable Passenger with Reduced Mobility to enjoy similar access to other passengers.
Huzar v Jet2.com[2014] EWCA Civ 791 was a landmark case, taken to the Court of Appeal in May 2014, which created binding case law for all future flight delay compensation claims in England and Wales.
Refund.me, stylized as refund.me is a technology-driven company that provides legal services for air passengers whose flight has been cancelled, significantly delayed or overbooked and for missed connections. It does so according to the stipulations of European passenger rights legislation, specifically EU Regulation 261/2004. Refund.me operates on a no-win, no-fee contingency fee.
TRS Travelright Services AB is a Swedish consumer rights bureau specialized in assisting air passengers claiming compensation from airlines when their flight has been delayed, cancelled or overbooked. According to EU-law Regulation 261/2004 all passengers traveling to and from Europe are entitled to get a compensation between €250 - €600 depending on the duration of the delay and flight distance. These laws have been in effect since 2004, but only a few passengers are aware about their rights. For obvious reasons the air carriers don't spend much effort to inform their customers about their right to be compensated although the air companies are obliged to do so. But the information is to be found on EU's homepage, where the law and its implications are displayed and explained.
Dawson v Thomson Airways Ltd was a landmark case taken to the Court of Appeal of England and Wales in May 2014, which created a binding case law for all future flight delay compensation claims in England and Wales.
Schedule padding—sometimes called simply padding, or recovery time—is some amount of 'additional' time added to part or all of a schedule, in excess of the expected duration, that allows it to be resilient to anticipated delays and increase the chance that the published schedule will be met. In some cases, excessive padding may be intentionally added to make it unlikely that the schedule won't be met, or to prefabricate an earlier-than-scheduled completion. Padding may have only a temporary positive impact, and many clients perceive this as a deceptive strategy.
Airfair was a mobile travel application that checks flights and shows whether a traveler is owed compensation.
There are no worldwide uniform standards regulating the provision of assistance for airline passengers with disabilities. American regulations place the responsibility on the airlines, the European Union's rules make the airport responsible for providing the assistance, and in South America there are no regulations at all. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is concerned about the difficulties caused by inconsistent regulations.
AirHelp is a online service that allow airline passengers to seek compensation for flight cancellations, delays, or overbookings.
In December 2022, Southwest Airlines, a major U.S. airline, and the third largest by domestic passenger volume, canceled more flights than usual, including more than 60% of its flights on two days. The crisis spanned December 21–30, at the peak of the holiday travel season, and is referred to in the news media as the Southwest Airlines holiday travel meltdown or simply as the holiday meltdown, a name also used by the Southwest Airlines pilot's union and the U.S. Department of Transportation. The disruption to operations was described by Seeking Alpha as the most costly and largest in the history of U.S. airlines. More than 15,000 flights were canceled throughout the crisis.
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