After hundreds of flight cancellations, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took to Twitter to encourage burned customers to get their money refunded.
“Flight canceled? You are entitled to a prompt refund,” Buttigieg tweeted Saturday. “Learn more about your rights at our Consumer Protection site.”
The Department of Transportation allows refunds for situations in which flights are canceled or delayed, bags are lost, and even if a customer’s service class changes. However, refunds for delayed flights only apply to those with a “significant delay,” which is determined on a case-by-case basis by the DOT. These refunds only apply to customers who book directly with an airline, as those bookings with third-party companies are required to be refunded by the travel agent.
DELTA LURES PASSENGERS OFF OVERBOOKED FLIGHT WITH $10,000 OFFER: REPORT
Flight canceled? You are entitled to a prompt refund.
Learn more about your rights at our Consumer Protection site. https://t.co/SuUOobh3St
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) July 2, 2022
By noon on Saturday, more than 500 flights had already been canceled, with almost 2,000 more delayed, according to FlightAware.
About 2.49 million passengers went through security checkpoints at U.S. airports Friday, surpassing the previous pandemic-era record of 2.46 million reached earlier in the week, according to figures released Saturday by the Transportation Security Administration.
Friday’s passenger volume marked a 13% increase from July 1 last year, which fell on the Thursday before the Fourth of July. This year’s number of passengers going through U.S. airports also eclipsed the 2.35 million screened at security checkpoints on the Friday before the Fourth of July in 2019, but that was nearly a week ahead of Independence Day.
But airlines have struggled to keep up with the surging demand amid staffing shortages and an assortment of other problems that have resulted in waves of flight delays and cancellations that have been transforming some vacations into nightmarish ordeals.
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Many airlines, including Delta, Southwest, and JetBlue, have responded to the challenge by curtailing their summer schedules in an effort to reduce the inconveniences (and backlash) caused by flight delays and cancellations. They are using larger planes on average to carry more passengers while they scramble to hire and train more pilots.
A total of 6,611 flights into, out of, or within the United States were delayed on Friday, and 558 U.S. flights for the same day were canceled, according to FlightAware. Earlier in the week, more than 1,800 flights were canceled Wednesday morning, with an estimated 9,340 delays. Routes have even been permanently canceled as a result of the labor shortage.
