United Airlines, Inc. is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois. United operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and all six inhabited continents primarily out of its eight hubs, with Chicago–O'Hare having the largest number of daily flights and Denver carrying the most passengers in 2023. Regional service is operated by independent carriers under the brand name United Express.
Ryanair Holdings PLC is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier group headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland. The company includes the 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.
Airline deregulation is the process of removing government-imposed entry and price restrictions on airlines affecting, in particular, the carriers permitted to serve specific routes. In the United States, the term usually applies to the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. A new form of regulation has been developed to some extent to deal with problems such as the allocation of the limited number of slots available at airports.
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.
Lost luggage is luggage conveyed by a public carrier such as an airline, seafaring cruise ship, shipping company, or railway which fails to arrive at the correct destination with the passenger. In the United States, an average of 1 in 150 people have their checked baggage misdirected or left behind each year.
Air rage is aggressive or violent behavior on the part of passengers and crew of aircraft, especially during flight. Air rage generally covers both behavior of a passenger or crew member that is likely caused by physiological or psychological stresses associated with air travel, and when a passenger or crew member becomes unruly, angry, or violent on an aircraft during a flight. Excessive consumption of alcohol is often a cause.
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. However, 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.
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.
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.
Denver Air Connection is a subsidiary of Key Lime Air providing both charter and scheduled passenger air service.
Norwegian Long Haul AS was a division of Norwegian Air Shuttle that operated long-haul flights between Europe, Asia, and North America with an all-Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet.
The European Union Persons with Reduced Mobility (PRM) legislation is intended to ensure that Persons with Reduced Mobility (whether disabled, elderly or otherwise) 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 (where feasible and with certain safety exemptions).
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.
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.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the airline industry due to travel restrictions and a decimation in demand among travelers.
