The DOT has surveyed airlines and put together this dashboard with airline commitments on what they will do in case of “controllable” cancellations and delays. Many airlines are committing to providing more benefits to consumers in an effort to avoid the DOT regulating the industry.
In my experience, getting airlines to cover expenses or to move you to another airline requires that you climb the ladder of authority and make specific requests for what you want. I doubt that will change, but airlines will now be on the hook for denying benefits listed in this chart.
The DOT defines a controllable delay examples as “maintenance or crew problems; cabin cleaning; baggage loading; and fueling.”
The problem is that delays often happen when there are also weather issues somewhere in the country. Airlines love nothing more than to blame those delays on the weather as that gets them off the hook for covering any expenses.
If the DOT is serious about having airlines comply with their dashboard, then cracking down on airlines blaming weather for flights that were delayed for mechanical reasons is a logical step.
Until that happens, that’s where credit cards that have travel protections, such as Chase Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, AMEX Platinum, or AMEX Business Platinum will come in handy.
Do you think airlines will improve their customer service handling when things go wrong?
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2 Comments On "The DOT Compiles An Airline Customer Service Dashboard, But Airlines Still Decide What Is A Controllable Delay"
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“The problem is that delays often happen when there are also weather issues somewhere in the country. Airlines love nothing more than to blame those delays on the weather as that gets them off the hook for covering any expenses.”
There should be clear guidelines that if there are no weather issues on your route it should be considered a controllable delay.
Incoming aircraft/crew shouldn’t be the passenger’s problem.
Perhaps there are no weather delays on *your* route, but what if the plane you’re supposed to fly on came from an area with a weather event? Or was supposed to fly through an area with a weather event and ATC told them not to fly? What if the crew of the plane you were supposed to be on timed out due to that delay? Weather in one hub area can create a huge ripple effect on an entire operation.