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It’s been a tumultuous travel season, with last-minute flight changes, delays and even worse, outright cancellations, causing stress and misery at some airport gates.
Nerves are especially high ahead of the upcoming popular Labor Day holiday weekend.
And now, there’s at least one thing you can do about it: share your travel experiences, concerns and important passenger protections with your supervisors.
The new rules to be taken into consideration now will make for an easier journey for all passengers.
Department of Transport So far in 2022, nearly one in four flights have been delayed and three in 100 have been cancelled, he said.
The Seyfried family from Homewood saw this first hand.
Three generations of their family – a grandmother, daughter and granddaughter – flew to Europe earlier this month.
It was a trip they said they had been waiting for all summer.
“It was everything we could have hoped for until the end,” said daughter Jessica Seyfried.
“[Jessica] “There was a text or an email from the airlines saying the flight was canceled,” Seyfried’s mother Jeanine said.
The Seyfried family’s trip to Europe went well when their flight home to Chicago was unexpectedly canceled and no explanation was given.
Their flight from Dublin to Chicago was canceled on their way to the airport in the early hours of the morning in Ireland. They said they have not received any explanation from their airline as to why it was cancelled.
The only thing they found out was that the next flight was three days away.
“We can’t sit here two more days,” said Janine Seyfried, a public school teacher who had to return to Chicago to prepare for the fall semester.
Jessica Seyfried’s daughter and high school senior, Madison Seyfried, said she made a point to keep her mother and grandmother calm.
“I saw my mom freak out, I saw my grandma freak out,” Madison Seyfried said. “It was very stressful.”
In the end, the Seyfried family had to find their own way by booking a flight on an alternate airline. Still, Madison Seyfried said she learned an unexpected lesson about the current flight.
“I didn’t think this would happen because we are so technologically advanced. I thought the airlines would figure it out in a few minutes, but it took a whole day. “It was confusing to me.”
Airline industry ultimatum
The federation blamed the airlines for the high rate of cancellations and delays, accusing the companies of excessively delaying flights.
Trade groups representing the airlines said they were facing pilot shortages and general staffing problems, which were causing travel disruptions.
The airlines said they have issued $21 billion in refunds since the outbreak, showing that each company is complying with current laws and regulations when passengers receive refunds or flight vouchers.
But now the federation is questioning whether the existing laws go far enough. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttegig told the TODAY Show last week that airlines need to do a better job of supporting passengers when they experience delays or cancellations.
Buttegieg is giving the airline industry a ultimatum: come up with improvements to your own passenger rights, or face new rules.
“I’m giving them a chance to raise the bar,” Buttigieg said.
The DOT is also developing a website that compiles each airline’s policies regarding cancellations and delays in one place. The goal is to launch that website by Labor Day weekend.
“The message to the airlines is that you have to make it easy for passengers to understand their rights,” Buttegieg said.
Newly envisioned airline refund protections
Meanwhile, there are stronger protections for passenger rights in the works, but first, the federation wants passenger input on what it wants to change.
Prompted by high complaints, new rules proposed by the DOT may guarantee your right to a refund, food, hotel and future flight vouchers if your flight is canceled or significantly delayed for reasons within the airline’s control.
Over the years, airlines have been mandated to offer refunds or flight vouchers if a flight is canceled or drastically changed.
Now, the new rules define what constitutes a “significant change” to a flight, including: a domestic flight’s departure or arrival time delayed by three hours or more, six hours for international flights, or changes to the airport at which it was originally scheduled. To land or take off.
Under the new rules, “significant changes” include any itinerary changes that increase the number of connecting flights a passenger needs to take to reach their destination.
The rules include a proposed voucher system for passengers who want to cancel a flight due to Covid-19 or future illness.
According to DOT, “The proposal would require airlines and ticket agents to issue flight credits or vouchers to passengers that are valid indefinitely when passengers cannot fly for certain pandemic-related reasons, such as government-mandated travel bans, closed borders or passengers.” They are advised not to travel to protect their health or the health of other passengers.
If approved, the new rules won’t go into effect until next year, at the earliest. Scott Keyes is a passenger advocate, author, and founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights, a website that helps travelers find the best airfare deals.
Keyes says the proposed changes here could be massive.
“If this goes through, this will be the biggest expansion of commuter rights in decades,” Keyes said.
Those changes are not yet complete, and the traveling public has the opportunity to influence them.
The Department for Transport is asking for public comments over the next three months. Your voice, your chance to weigh in on laws you can rely on years from now.
Keyes said the flying public should take advantage of this opportunity, otherwise the airlines will have their say.
“It’s important for individual travelers to have their voices heard here, so that it’s not just the airlines and lobbyists in the industry that ultimately shape what becomes the law here,” Keyes told NBC 5. It is us travelers who are affected by these laws.
How to comment on the new flight rules
Here’s how you can share your story and comment on DOT’s new rules:
1. Go to the “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)” website for this specific proposal, linked here.
2. Under the “Browse Documents” section, find the “Proposed Rule” under the heading “Airline Refunds and Consumer Protection.”
3. Click the blue “Comment” button
4. Share your thoughts in the comments section. DOT recommends that comments, whether for or against regulatory action, be constructive, clear, and concise. Comments that follow these guidelines “will have more impact on regulatory decision-making,” the agency says.
5. Sharing your email address is optional, you are not required to do so.
6. Select whether you want to be identified as representing an individual, organization, or share your thoughts anonymously.
Have a consumer complaint? Call 1-844-NBC-RESP or click here to let us know, so we can help
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