What are airlines supposed to compensate for delays?

According to the DOT, airlines are not required to provide money or other compensation when flights get delayed, regardless of how late they are. However, when a “significant delay” takes place, passengers may receive refunds for seat selection fees or checked baggage fees.



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Passengers are also entitled to compensation if they are delayed on the ground upon arrival, with a $50 credit for a delay of one to two hours, a $125 credit for a delay of two to three hours and a $200 credit for a delay of three hours or more.

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There's no official requirement for passengers to receive a refund or reimbursement in a result of a flight delay.

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For delays five hours or longer, the airline must refund your ticket, and if you missed a connecting flight due to the delay, the airline must provide transportation to the connecting airport.

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If you arrive at your destination within 1 hour of your original scheduled arrival time, you will not be compensated. If you arrive at your destination between 1 to 2 hours after your original arrival time, you will be compensated for 200% of your one-way ticket price or a $775 maximum.

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So it can delay the flight for an hour to several hours until the problem is fixed. Technical issues are pretty rare, but airlines are liable to pay compensation to their passengers if the delay is of more than 3 hours. The amount of compensation, however, depends upon the flight distance.

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Measuring delays
The standard airline measure is to use 'gate-to-gate' – the times that the aircraft starts and stops moving (however, for the purposes of EU compensation, under EC 261/2004, a court has ruled that the arrival time is when at least one door is open).

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Tweeting at the airline's customer service team, submitting a request for compensation online or writing a letter the old fashioned way are other options that have met with success…

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Passengers are not eligible for compensation if a flight is delayed by 30 minutes or less. However, depending on the airline and the circumstances of the delay, they may still be entitled to other forms of assistance such as meals and refreshments.

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Schedule Change/Significant Delay - A consumer is entitled to a refund if the airline made a significant schedule change and/or significantly delays a flight and the consumer chooses not to travel. DOT has not specifically defined what constitutes a “significant delay.”

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Right to reimbursement or re-routing In addition to compensation for your loss of time, if your delay exceeds 5 hours, you are entitled to a full or partial refund of your original ticket and a return flight to your point of departure, if needed.

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Similar to flight delay compensation amounts, you are entitled to reimbursement when a EU261-covered flight is canceled of up to 600 euros ($645). If your flight is canceled, the airline will also offer you three options, which are: Rerouting you to your final destination.

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If, for example, your first flight is late and because of that you miss the next flight, Qatar Airways will offer you to take another flight to your destination completely for free. You will not have to do anything — neither look for another flight, nor pay for it.

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If you miss your link due to a flight delay, it is the airline's fault. Thus, during such cases, Emirates will rebook you on their next available flight. However, if this next flight happens to be the following morning, the airline has a solution to this too. They will book you on another airline in such a situation.

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For domestic flights in the U.S., airlines have to pay you 200% of the value of your one-way ticket up to $775 if you arrive at your destination one to two hours past your originally scheduled itinerary or 400% of the one-way ticket price, up to $1,550 if your arrival delay is longer than two hours.

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According to the DOT, airlines are not required to provide money or other compensation when flights get delayed, regardless of how late they are. However, when a “significant delay” takes place, passengers may receive refunds for seat selection fees or checked baggage fees.

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