New Airline Rules Would Protect NH Flyers From Cancellations, Delays

NEW HAMPSHIRE — President Joe Biden on Monday said he would write new regulations requiring airlines to compensate stranded air travelers ahead of what’s expected to be a busy travel season in New Hampshire and around the country.

Ticket refunds would be automatic, and airlines would also have to cover stranded travelers’ hotel and meal costs if the carriers are found to be at fault for the cancellation or significant delay. The rules would focus on the disruptions caused by things such as mechanical issues with a plane or lack of a crew.

“You deserve more than just getting the price of your ticket (refunded) — you deserve to be fully compensated,” Biden told reporters Monday. “Your time matters, the impact on your life matters.”

It’s not yet clear if the new regulations will be in place for Memorial Day weekend (Memorial Day is on May 28, but the travel period starts on Thursday, May 25, and ends on Tuesday, May 29).

“Summer travel is going to put enormous pressure on the system,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said at a news conference in Washington. “Airlines need to accept their fundamental responsibility to better serve passengers.”

Last year over the Memorial Day weekend, U.S. airlines canceled more than 2,800 flights, or about 28 percent of their schedules, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.

The rate of canceled flights is down 1.6 percent so far this year, compared with 2.1 percent in the same period last year. However, delays are slightly more common and a few minutes longer on average, according to FlightAware data.

In all of 2022, 71.61 percent of flights into Manchester-Boston International arrived on time, according to Department of Transportation data. At Manchester-Boston International last year, 77.41 percent of flights left on time. Of the 6,704 flights into At Manchester-Boston International last year, 23.88 percent were delayed and 4.42 percent were canceled.

In January and February of this year, 81.22 percent of flights arrived on time and 83.88 percent of flights departed Manchester-Boston International on time, according to the Transportation Department data.

The new regulations will be similar to those in place in the European Union. Biden and Buttigieg didn’t say how much airlines are expected to pay for lodging during significant delays.

Airlines for America, a trade group representing the biggest carriers, said in a statement that airlines have no incentive to delay and cancel flights, and noted that more than half of the 2022 cancellations were because of “extreme weather” or air traffic control outages.

The new regulations could have unintended consequences, including higher costs to consumers and less service, Clifford Winston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told The Wall Street Journal

“They’ll find a way to raise fares,” Winston said. “They’re not in the business to lose money, and if the government is going to force them to do something, they’re going to try and find a way to get the cost covered.”

Currently, when an airline cancels a flight for any reason, consumers can demand a refund of the unused part of their ticket and certain extras that they might have paid to the airline, such as fees for checking a bag or getting a seat assignment. A Transportation Department customer service dashboard lets consumers compare airline policies on refunds and compensation. It was activated after last year’s summer travel meltdown.

A report last month from the Congressional Government Accountability blamed airlines for a surge in cancellations as air travel began to recover in 2021 and early 2022. The Federal Aviation Administration has also added to the disruptions with technology outages and staffing shortages, the report said.

The FAA recently encouraged airlines to reduce flights to and from major New York airports this summer because it doesn’t have enough air traffic controllers at a key facility.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.