With thousands of Americans getting ready to take to the skies for the cold weather holidays, it's a good time to review what you're entitled to if something goes wrong. If your flight is delayed you may be entitled to a refund or compensation under commitments various airlines have made to the Department of Transportation.
While the Trump administration's DOT generated headlines this fall when it said it was reevaluating rules that required refunds for "significantly delayed" flights, no changes seem to have been made.
The DOT told USA TODAY in a statement on Nov. 4 that airlines still have to live up to their existing passenger protection commitments when flights are delayed, and as of Nov. 2, the DOT's website still said passengers can be entitled to a refund for "schedule change/significant delay."
"DOT requires airlines to adhere to promises that they make in their customer service plans," the DOT's statement said. "The largest U.S. airlines have voluntarily committed in their customer service plans to mitigate passenger inconvenience when the cause of the cancellation or delay was due to circumstances within the airline’s control."
A full breakdown of each airline's commitments is available on the DOT's consumer dashboards.
