If an airline cancels a flight, what happens? - Page 2 - YDF - Your Daily Freebies Forum - Coupon Codes

Binny89 · 04-22-2009, 10:04 PM

the passengers bill of rights addresses the rights of passengers that are actually ON a plane and they are delayed. Otherwise known as "tarmac confinements" It was in response to all of the flights who boarded passengers and yet were stuck on the tarmack for hours. It means that passengers must be treated humanely ie given food and water. It does nothing to provide shelter to those who are left stranded at the airport.

The law was in response to numerous incidences of passengers being stranded, but primarily because thousands of passengers were kept in grounded aircraft at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York during a snow and ice storm last Valentine's Day, some for up to 10 hours.
The law requires that once airplanes leave gates in New York and have been on the tarmac for more than three hours, there must be drinking water, snacks and other refreshments, electric-generation service for fresh air and lights and removal of waste from holding tanks for on-board restrooms. It carries a penalty of $1,000 per passenger per violation.
"It became very evident that the government needed to step in and see that passengers are treated humanely on these flights," said New York Assemblyman Michael Gianaris, a co-sponsor of the bill that Gov. Eliot Spitzer signed into law. "This is home to the most delayed airports in the country," said Gianaris, whose Queens district includes LaGuardia Airport.
Lawmakers in New Jersey, Rhode Island and Connecticut are in various stages of preparing similar legislation, said Gianaris. If such a proposal is under consideration in California it hasn't surfaced yet.
The Air Transport Association of America, the trade association representing the major U.S. air carriers, is battling such legislation, on the theory that decisions need to rest in the hands of cockpit crews. The trade association challenged Gianaris' bill in U.S. District Court in Albany, arguing that commercial aviation is best regulated by one source, the federal government, not individual states.
Judge Lawrence Kahn, in dismissing the association's challenge, ruled last month that the New York law covers legitimate health and safety issues and is not pre-empted by the federal Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 as it does not affect an airline's fares, routes or service.
The trade association said it believes Kahn misinterpreted the law and it is considering an appeal.
And finally, Kate Hanni, the Napa real estate agent who gave up her day job to become a consumer advocate and form the Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights to lobby for the federal legislation, took the matter of "tarmac confinement" to court last week.
She filed a lawsuit against American Airlines, alleging false imprisonment during the nine hours she sat in a plane that had been diverted from Dallas to Austin, Texas, in the midst of a 1,000-mile-long thunderstorm on Dec. 29, 2006. The suit, filed Friday in Napa County Superior Court - just under the deadline of a one-year statute of limitations - also accuses the world's largest airline of intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and breach of contract.
American Airlines, based in Fort Worth, Texas, says it does not comment on pending litigation, other than to say that it has implemented practices to better deal with inclement weather and that it was forced to divert 121 planes that day for safety reasons.
The airline, however, does specifically dispute one of Hanni's claims about her experience on Flight 1348, from San Francisco to Dallas. In the suit she alleges, "The toilets became full and would not flush and the stench of human excrement and body odor filled the plane." American said, "None of the three restroom toilets ever overflowed. In fact, the toilets were serviced at the earliest opportunity by ground crews."
A Department of Transportation Inspector General's report said the airline provided "tolerable restroom facilities on the aircraft delayed in Austin; however, some passengers felt American's efforts were inadequate in that regard."
Another passenger stranded that day in Austin, Catherine Ray of Fayetteville, Ark., has filed a suit similar to Hanni's against American Airlines in state court in Arkansas. The two were in separate airplanes, but Ray said the toilet in her airplane "could not be flushed anymore" and there was no water to wash one's hands.
Both Hanni and Ray are asking judges to certify their cases as class actions, on behalf of some 12,000 American passengers who were confined for hours in airplanes "in poor to deplorable conditions" on Dec. 29, 2006.
"It fundamentally changed my life," Hanni said of her experience, which prompted a career change - to walk away from 17 years as a real estate agent as well as the loss of relatively high income to become an unpaid consumer advocate.
"Anyone can sell real estate," said Hanni. "I don't know anyone else who would stick his or her neck out to create a coalition to take on the airlines, every day, and do it for nothing. But I have to, because passengers have no lobby. There's a callous disregard for passengers."
Hanni, who formed the Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights ( www.flyersrights.com) to develop passenger-friendly legislation, added, "I miss the money" from real estate. "But I'm so excited to be involved with something forward reaching where I can leave my mark."
Hanni is lobbying in part to try to preserve a provision in the House version of the passengers' bill of rights requiring airlines to have a strategy for taking passengers off airplanes. The bill also requires airlines to provide for passengers' basic needs.
Storms can cause passengers to be held in airplanes on the tarmac, but, said Paul Hudson, a New York lawyer representing Hanni, most tarmac confinements are the result of congestion, mechanical problems with the aircraft, lack of ready flight crews, air traffic control malfunctions, diversions from other airports, airport curfews, or lack of customs and immigration or security personnel to process incoming international flights.
Hudson, who is also executive director of the Aviation Consumer Action Project, a nonprofit group monitoring safety and security issues, negotiated a settlement on behalf of 4,000 Northwest Airlines passengers who were confined in airplanes from four to 11 hours during a snowstorm at Detroit Metro Airport in January 1999. They shared in a settlement of $7.1 million.
Hudson believes, as Hanni alleges in her lawsuit against American Airlines, that confinements are intended to avoid "expenses and lawful obligations to passengers associated with strandings, diversions and canceled flights."
Of the airlines, he added, "Their primary defense is, 'This is an act of God.' I guess we're supposed to sue God."

Know your rights

Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights: www.flyersrights.com

Aviation Consumer Action Project: www.acap1971.org

The rest of the actual bill of rights is proposed and not yet law. It does address some bumped flights but again this is not yet law. Nor do I personally think its going to be without some tweaking. The airlines have the power here and the lobbyists in Washington to prove it.

So at this point it is up to the actual airline to make the determination what, if any, compensation you can receive.

http://www.flyersrights.com/main.html

Establish procedures to respond to all passenger complaints within 24 hours and with appropriate resolution within 2 weeks.
Notify passengers within ten minutes of a delay of known diversions, delays and cancellations via airport overhead announcement, on aircraft announcement, and posting on airport television monitors.
Establish procedures for returning passengers to terminal gate when delays occur so that no plane sits on the tarmac for longer than three hours without connecting to a gate.
Provide for the essential needs of passengers during air- or ground-based delays of longer than 3 hours, including food, water, sanitary facilities, and access to medical attention.
Provide for the needs of disabled, elderly and special needs passengers by establishing procedures for assisting with the moving and retrieving of baggage, and the moving of passengers from one area of airport to another at all times by airline personnel.
Publish and update monthly on the company’s public web site a list of chronically delayed flights, meaning those flight delayed thirty minutes or more, at least forty percent of the time, during a single month.
Compensate “bumped” passengers or passengers delayed due to flight cancellations or postponements of over 12 hours by refund of 150% of ticket price
The formal implementation of a Passenger Review Committee, made up of non-airline executives and employees but rather passengers and consumers - that would have the formal ability to review and investigate complaints.
Make lowest fare information, schedules and itineraries, cancellation policies and frequent flyer program requirements available in an easily accessed location and updated in real-time.
Ensure that baggage is handled without delay or injury; if baggage is lost or misplaced, the airline shall notify customer of baggage status within 12 hours and provide compensation equal to current market value of baggage and its contents.
Require that these rights apply equally to all airlines code-share partners, including international partners.

hardasrock · 04-24-2009, 02:23 AM

Thanks for the info Binny

hemsleyk · 11-01-2009, 06:31 PM

I had one leg of my flight cancelled by Air Tran last week (Phx-Tampa). They said they would refund that part of my fare or I could travel the day before or after (which wasn't an option). Luckily I found a flight option available on another airline-Frontier. I was pretty upset that they couldn't do more for me. I am flying home on Thanksgiving so most other airlines were outrageous for such short notice.

Gooddealie · 11-06-2009, 05:03 PM

Especially around Christmas, if you volunteer to be "bumped" make sure you understand exactly what compensation they're offering you before you say yes. Sometimes they don't offer anything (had that happen twice). And sometimes it's something piddly like a $50 discount coupon instead of a voucher for a free flight (had that happen once). If you have to wait overnight, check to see whether they're including hotel accomodations. Sometimes they expect you to just hang out at the airport all night, which can be pretty uncomfortable.

The compensation can vary, even with the same airline.

Last year in Vancouver the airport was closed on Christmas Eve (because of snow conditions). Air Canada simply cancelled everyone's flights - and told them that how they got home was their problem (Merry Christmas, Scrooge!). People were stuck standing in long line ups in front of the ticket counters for more than a day (so people missed Christmas with their families). Needless to say the story was plastered all over the local news throughout the entire Christmas - New Year week. Made the airline and airport look absolutely horrible. And it got their main (airline) competitor a lot of new customers (WestJet was out there handing out pizza, pillows and blankets to people stranded at the airport and they continued trying to find alternate ways to get people home). I think Air Canada and the airport in general both came up with some internal policy after that fiasco, but don't assume every airline has set a policy, or has the same rules for resolving booking problems.

04-22-2009, 10:04 PM	#12
Binny89 Moderator Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Almost Denver, Colorado! Posts: 10,607	the passengers bill of rights addresses the rights of passengers that are actually ON a plane and they are delayed. Otherwise known as "tarmac confinements" It was in response to all of the flights who boarded passengers and yet were stuck on the tarmack for hours. It means that passengers must be treated humanely ie given food and water. It does nothing to provide shelter to those who are left stranded at the airport. The law was in response to numerous incidences of passengers being stranded, but primarily because thousands of passengers were kept in grounded aircraft at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York during a snow and ice storm last Valentine's Day, some for up to 10 hours. The law requires that once airplanes leave gates in New York and have been on the tarmac for more than three hours, there must be drinking water, snacks and other refreshments, electric-generation service for fresh air and lights and removal of waste from holding tanks for on-board restrooms. It carries a penalty of $1,000 per passenger per violation. "It became very evident that the government needed to step in and see that passengers are treated humanely on these flights," said New York Assemblyman Michael Gianaris, a co-sponsor of the bill that Gov. Eliot Spitzer signed into law. "This is home to the most delayed airports in the country," said Gianaris, whose Queens district includes LaGuardia Airport. Lawmakers in New Jersey, Rhode Island and Connecticut are in various stages of preparing similar legislation, said Gianaris. If such a proposal is under consideration in California it hasn't surfaced yet. The Air Transport Association of America, the trade association representing the major U.S. air carriers, is battling such legislation, on the theory that decisions need to rest in the hands of cockpit crews. The trade association challenged Gianaris' bill in U.S. District Court in Albany, arguing that commercial aviation is best regulated by one source, the federal government, not individual states. Judge Lawrence Kahn, in dismissing the association's challenge, ruled last month that the New York law covers legitimate health and safety issues and is not pre-empted by the federal Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 as it does not affect an airline's fares, routes or service. The trade association said it believes Kahn misinterpreted the law and it is considering an appeal. And finally, Kate Hanni, the Napa real estate agent who gave up her day job to become a consumer advocate and form the Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights to lobby for the federal legislation, took the matter of "tarmac confinement" to court last week. She filed a lawsuit against American Airlines, alleging false imprisonment during the nine hours she sat in a plane that had been diverted from Dallas to Austin, Texas, in the midst of a 1,000-mile-long thunderstorm on Dec. 29, 2006. The suit, filed Friday in Napa County Superior Court - just under the deadline of a one-year statute of limitations - also accuses the world's largest airline of intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and breach of contract. American Airlines, based in Fort Worth, Texas, says it does not comment on pending litigation, other than to say that it has implemented practices to better deal with inclement weather and that it was forced to divert 121 planes that day for safety reasons. The airline, however, does specifically dispute one of Hanni's claims about her experience on Flight 1348, from San Francisco to Dallas. In the suit she alleges, "The toilets became full and would not flush and the stench of human excrement and body odor filled the plane." American said, "None of the three restroom toilets ever overflowed. In fact, the toilets were serviced at the earliest opportunity by ground crews." A Department of Transportation Inspector General's report said the airline provided "tolerable restroom facilities on the aircraft delayed in Austin; however, some passengers felt American's efforts were inadequate in that regard." Another passenger stranded that day in Austin, Catherine Ray of Fayetteville, Ark., has filed a suit similar to Hanni's against American Airlines in state court in Arkansas. The two were in separate airplanes, but Ray said the toilet in her airplane "could not be flushed anymore" and there was no water to wash one's hands. Both Hanni and Ray are asking judges to certify their cases as class actions, on behalf of some 12,000 American passengers who were confined for hours in airplanes "in poor to deplorable conditions" on Dec. 29, 2006. "It fundamentally changed my life," Hanni said of her experience, which prompted a career change - to walk away from 17 years as a real estate agent as well as the loss of relatively high income to become an unpaid consumer advocate. "Anyone can sell real estate," said Hanni. "I don't know anyone else who would stick his or her neck out to create a coalition to take on the airlines, every day, and do it for nothing. But I have to, because passengers have no lobby. There's a callous disregard for passengers." Hanni, who formed the Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights ( www.flyersrights.com) to develop passenger-friendly legislation, added, "I miss the money" from real estate. "But I'm so excited to be involved with something forward reaching where I can leave my mark." Hanni is lobbying in part to try to preserve a provision in the House version of the passengers' bill of rights requiring airlines to have a strategy for taking passengers off airplanes. The bill also requires airlines to provide for passengers' basic needs. Storms can cause passengers to be held in airplanes on the tarmac, but, said Paul Hudson, a New York lawyer representing Hanni, most tarmac confinements are the result of congestion, mechanical problems with the aircraft, lack of ready flight crews, air traffic control malfunctions, diversions from other airports, airport curfews, or lack of customs and immigration or security personnel to process incoming international flights. Hudson, who is also executive director of the Aviation Consumer Action Project, a nonprofit group monitoring safety and security issues, negotiated a settlement on behalf of 4,000 Northwest Airlines passengers who were confined in airplanes from four to 11 hours during a snowstorm at Detroit Metro Airport in January 1999. They shared in a settlement of $7.1 million. Hudson believes, as Hanni alleges in her lawsuit against American Airlines, that confinements are intended to avoid "expenses and lawful obligations to passengers associated with strandings, diversions and canceled flights." Of the airlines, he added, "Their primary defense is, 'This is an act of God.' I guess we're supposed to sue God." Know your rights Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights: www.flyersrights.com Aviation Consumer Action Project: www.acap1971.org The rest of the actual bill of rights is proposed and not yet law. It does address some bumped flights but again this is not yet law. Nor do I personally think its going to be without some tweaking. The airlines have the power here and the lobbyists in Washington to prove it. So at this point it is up to the actual airline to make the determination what, if any, compensation you can receive. http://www.flyersrights.com/main.html Establish procedures to respond to all passenger complaints within 24 hours and with appropriate resolution within 2 weeks. Notify passengers within ten minutes of a delay of known diversions, delays and cancellations via airport overhead announcement, on aircraft announcement, and posting on airport television monitors. Establish procedures for returning passengers to terminal gate when delays occur so that no plane sits on the tarmac for longer than three hours without connecting to a gate. Provide for the essential needs of passengers during air- or ground-based delays of longer than 3 hours, including food, water, sanitary facilities, and access to medical attention. Provide for the needs of disabled, elderly and special needs passengers by establishing procedures for assisting with the moving and retrieving of baggage, and the moving of passengers from one area of airport to another at all times by airline personnel. Publish and update monthly on the company’s public web site a list of chronically delayed flights, meaning those flight delayed thirty minutes or more, at least forty percent of the time, during a single month. Compensate “bumped” passengers or passengers delayed due to flight cancellations or postponements of over 12 hours by refund of 150% of ticket price The formal implementation of a Passenger Review Committee, made up of non-airline executives and employees but rather passengers and consumers - that would have the formal ability to review and investigate complaints. Make lowest fare information, schedules and itineraries, cancellation policies and frequent flyer program requirements available in an easily accessed location and updated in real-time. Ensure that baggage is handled without delay or injury; if baggage is lost or misplaced, the airline shall notify customer of baggage status within 12 hours and provide compensation equal to current market value of baggage and its contents. Require that these rights apply equally to all airlines code-share partners, including international partners. Last edited by Binny89; 04-22-2009 at 10:05 PM.

04-24-2009, 02:23 AM	#13
hardasrock Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 778	Thanks for the info Binny

11-01-2009, 06:31 PM	#14
hemsleyk Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: tampa Posts: 234	I had one leg of my flight cancelled by Air Tran last week (Phx-Tampa). They said they would refund that part of my fare or I could travel the day before or after (which wasn't an option). Luckily I found a flight option available on another airline-Frontier. I was pretty upset that they couldn't do more for me. I am flying home on Thanksgiving so most other airlines were outrageous for such short notice.

11-06-2009, 05:03 PM	#15
Gooddealie 1/2007 Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 4,676	Especially around Christmas, if you volunteer to be "bumped" make sure you understand exactly what compensation they're offering you before you say yes. Sometimes they don't offer anything (had that happen twice). And sometimes it's something piddly like a $50 discount coupon instead of a voucher for a free flight (had that happen once). If you have to wait overnight, check to see whether they're including hotel accomodations. Sometimes they expect you to just hang out at the airport all night, which can be pretty uncomfortable. The compensation can vary, even with the same airline. Last year in Vancouver the airport was closed on Christmas Eve (because of snow conditions). Air Canada simply cancelled everyone's flights - and told them that how they got home was their problem (Merry Christmas, Scrooge!). People were stuck standing in long line ups in front of the ticket counters for more than a day (so people missed Christmas with their families). Needless to say the story was plastered all over the local news throughout the entire Christmas - New Year week. Made the airline and airport look absolutely horrible. And it got their main (airline) competitor a lot of new customers (WestJet was out there handing out pizza, pillows and blankets to people stranded at the airport and they continued trying to find alternate ways to get people home). I think Air Canada and the airport in general both came up with some internal policy after that fiasco, but don't assume every airline has set a policy, or has the same rules for resolving booking problems.