Flying not-so-friendly skies: What are your air passenger rights and how do you enforce them?

Part 1: Cancellations and delays

The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 did precisely what the title of the act states—deregulated the airlines—with an aim to allow the competitive market to naturally govern the quality of services, offering of flights, and fare prices.

The U.S. Department of Transportation, however, still has jurisdiction to regulate (but not without limit) the airlines to protect consumers.

This three-part series will discuss several passenger rights, beginning with cancellations and delays.

Airlines are not required to “guarantee” their schedules, but they cannot maintain unfair or deceptive flight schedules.

Unrealistic flight schedules are considered unfair and deceptive.

If a flight is chronically delayed—more than 30 minutes late or cancelled for 50 percent or more of the time in a given month—for four consecutive months, it is automatically considered unrealistic scheduling.

Additionally, airlines must provide passengers with notice of a change in flight status—that is, a cancellation, a delay of 30 minutes or more, and/or a flight diversion—within 30 minutes of becoming aware of a change in status.

The notice must be provided at the boarding gate (if a U.S. airport), on the airline’s website, and via the airline’s telephone reservation system.

Finally, airlines must submit detailed monthly reports to DOT regarding cancelled flights, comparisons of scheduled departures and actual departures, time differences between scheduled and actual departures, the reasons for delay and cancellations, and similar matters.

Airline carriers must also calculate their on-time-performance code (that is, the percentage of their flights that are on time).

Airlines must make this performance code available to consumers upon request and must link the code to flight schedules on their websites.

To avoid a delayed or cancelled flight, try to select flights earlier in the day—these flights are less likely to be set back by other flight delays and less likely to get cancelled if there are other delays.

Also, review the on time-performance codes for flights before selecting your flight.

If you’ve experienced a cancellation or delay and want to lodge a complaint, start at the source—with the airline.

The airlines are required to inform consumers how to submit a complaint on their website, e-ticket confirmations, and at their airline counter upon request.

The airlines must respond to consumer complaints within 60 days of receiving the request.

In addition to lodging a complaint with the airline, you should file a complaint with the Department of Transportation at https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/file-consumer- complaint.

DOT meets with the major airlines on a regular basis and may be able to address issues raised in complaints during these meetings.

Moreover, DOT tracks cancellations and delays, and can better enforce its regulations when it receives specific details about such things.

When lodging a complaint, be as detailed as possible and be sure to include flight numbers, times, and dates.

Finally, you can also submit a complaint to the Consumer Counsel: cnmiconsumercounsel@gmail.com.

Under the Airline Deregulation Act, the Commonwealth cannot regulate fares, services, and routes, but if your complaint touches on other matters the Commonwealth may have authority to address it.

Please note that these rules apply to covered carriers as defined under the DOT regulations and to routes that meet certain requirements.

The rules may not apply to all airlines or all flights.

The information contained in this article is for general informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice to any individual or entity. This information is not intended to create, and the reading of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.