If you’re an avid traveller, you must know the pain of delayed and cancelled flights. After weeks and months of planning, the airline has delayed your flight when you show up at the airport. For many travellers, this is the start of a really bad trip, as it spoils your mood from the get-go. When you’re in this situation, one of the first things you might think of is what kind of compensation you can get for major delays. For sure, airlines can’t just expect you to wait hours at the airport. Well, with the new federal rules, you might be able to get a cash refund on your delayed flights, and we have all the details.

How the New Federal Rules Guarantee an Automatic Cash Refund 

The United States Department of Transportation recently announced new aviation rules. These rules were created to protect airline passengers from costly fees and delays. Under the new rule, travellers can now be guaranteed an automatic cash refund. This refund, however, only applies if the scheduled flight is delayed three or more hours for domestic travel and six or more hours for international flights. One catch to keep in mind here is that it is not yet clear whether this applies to all delays regardless of the reason.

According to statistics by the Bureau of Transportation, in 2023 some of the major reasons for delays include:

• Aircraft arriving late: 40.04%
• Air carrier delays: 36.44%
• National aviation system delay: 18.12%
• Extreme weather delay: 5.21%
• Security Delay: 0.20%

I don’t see that this necessarily means that any reason now that your flight is delayed, you’re automatically going to get this refund, and I think people need to understand this. In most cases, you’re still going to want to take a flight, whether it’s delayed three hours or next day. So you’re not going to get a refund and the flight. I hope people are clear on that, says Commercial pilot Kathleen Bangs.

With this new rule, passengers can hopefully expect the Department of Transportation to guarantee an automatic refund. Additionally, travellers can also expect alternate travel, a voucher or alternate compensation for any flight delayed over three hours or cancelled. While this new rule has not gone into effect yet, some airlines already offer compensation for delays and cancellations!