United Airlines grounded planes nationwide - What to do and What are my Passenger Rights
There were breaking news reports that United Airlines had grounded hundreds of planes and tens of thousands of passengers are affected. Here is Consumer passenger rights update related to United Airlines massive flight disruption:
- for those passengers affected by United flight cancellation, all passengers have the right to demand a refund in full as mandated by US Department of Transportation. Note this right exists regardless of the reason for cancellation.
- for those international passengers whose flights were delayed or cancelled on a return flight from EU or UK, right to compensation approx up to $650 may exist under EU Passenger Right regulations. Eligibility depends on actual delay at the final destination. Please note since these delays and cancellations were caused by United Airlines IT system failure or update, this is a controllable event by United.
That means that compensation claims should be valid provided delay upon final destination is 3 hours or more. You can read more detailed information about United Airline compensation here and use the flight delay compensation calculator which also helps to check eligibility.
For those passengers whose US domestic flights were affected, unlike EU & UK there is no set cash compensation in the US law, however United as well as other major US airlines agreed to commit to reimburse/cover incidentals (source):
- Meal or meal cash/voucher when cancellation or delay results in passenger waiting for 3 hours or more for new flight
- Complimentary hotel accommodations for any passenger affected by an overnight delay
- Complimentary ground transportation to and from hotel for any passenger affected by an overnight delay
If you had any out of pocket expenses, we recommend you request United to provide you with a voucher for the same value of expenses, so keep the receipts.
If you need assistance with your claim against United Airlines, AirAdvisor may help you claim compensation under EU/UK law. Use our free compensation eligibility checker to see if you can claim compensation.
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