Airlines Offering Meals, Hotels For Canceled Flights After Admonishment From Government

Many major U.S. airlines are changing their customer service policies heading into the Labor Day weekend, following pressure from the federal government for carriers to better accommodate travelers in the wake of a summer filled with cancelations and frustrated flyers.

In a letter this month to the heads of the nation’s 10 largest air carriers, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg argued that “the level of disruption Americans have experienced this summer is unacceptable.” The letter was published online in full by The Washington Post.

Buttigieg noted that 24 percent of domestic flights by U.S. airlines were delayed in the first six months of 2022, while 3.2 percent were canceled. He specifically asked airlines, “at a minimum,” to provide meal vouchers for delays three hours or longer and lodging for passengers forced to wait overnight for a flight due to disruptions within the carrier’s control.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has launched a dashboard on its Aviation Consumer Protection website allowing travelers to compare airline services and amenities.

As of Thursday, American, Delta, United, JetBlue and Southwest all had policies on their websites reflecting Buttigieg’s request. Most of the policies appeared to have been recently updated.

Below are each airline's policies for cancellations and delays:

Buttigieg is not the only government official taking issue with airlines’ customer service. In a letter to U.S. Congressional leaders, attorneys general from 38 states asked legislators to authorize them to enforce consumer protection laws governing the industry.

“Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, certain corporate actors have systematically failed to live up to their responsibilities to their customers and have caused significant frustrations and unnecessary challenges for these customers,” the letter said. “In particular, the airline industry has failed their customers.”

Air travel service complaints skyrocketed earlier in the summer, according to the transportation department, which reported complaints increased nearly 35 percent from May to June, and were almost 270 percent higher than the pre-pandemic levels of June 2019. Of the 5,862 complaints in June 2022, about 29 percent were about cancelations, delays or other schedule changes.

Delta, however, reported improvements over the summer in a recent news release, noting fewer than 1 percent of its domestic flights were canceled in August.

“Delta’s performance and reliability has significantly recovered from the beginning of summer thanks to schedule changes and other measures taken to make the operation more resilient,” the news release said.

In his letter, Buttigieg acknowledged the industry had taken steps to reduce delays and cancelations by trimming schedules and improving hiring initiatives, while making the case that airlines could and should do more.