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Did your American flight get canceled or delayed by more than 3 hours? If so, you need to understand American Airlines’ policy for handling these situations.
Flight delays and cancellations are an unfortunate part of traveling and while any unexpected schedule changes can be very frustrating, don’t let them discourage you from traveling. Just make sure you know the rules and your rights when one of these situations occurs.
If you are flying American Airlines, and your flight gets canceled or significantly delayed, here are the key things to know about American’s flight delay and cancellation policy, as well as the protections you have from the U.S. Department of Transportation (and European Regulation EU 261).
If your flight is canceled, the first thing you need to figure out is whether the cause of cancellation is within the airline’s control. A controllable flight cancellation or delay is essentially a delay or cancellation that has been caused by the airline.
When the situation is “Controllable”, airlines have responsibility and have made commitments, enforceable by the Department of Transportation (“DOT”), on how they will take care of the customer.
Controllable Delays are caused by things the airline has control over such as maintenance and mechanical issues, lack of available equipment, cabin cleaning, flight crew schedules, fueling, baggage loading, etc.
Non-Controllable Delays are caused from things that are outside of the airlines control such as weather, air traffic congestion, terrorism, emergency diversion, etc.
If your flight is canceled for a controllable reason, American has pledged to do the following:
You’re eligible to rebook on American when your flight is delayed longer than 60 minutes.
You can call the American customer service line (800-433-7300) or wait in line at the airport, but it’s normally faster to make the change on the American website or app.
The U.S. DOT has fewer protections for passengers than other parts of the world. If you are flying in the American States, airlines are not required to provide additional compensation when flights are delayed or canceled. You will be eligible for a refund but not additional compensation.
Compensation is only required by U.S. law when passengers are “bumped” from an oversold flight.
However, If you are flying within or leaving from Europe, there are stricter regulations and you can get compensation for delays and cancellations.
AirHelp can help you get up to $650 in compensation (per passenger) if your flight is canceled or delayed more than 3 hours.
If your flight is canceled and you choose not to take another flight option provided by American, you are entitled to a refund for the unused ticket – even for non-refundable tickets. This refund includes the ticket price plus any baggage fees you paid, as well as any extras you purchased, such as a seat assignment or pet fee.
Your compensation for a canceled flight is limited to the costs associated with your ticket only. American Airlines is not required to reimburse you for any consequential costs affected by the canceled flight, such as a prepaid hotel room or rental car, a cruise, concert, or other tickets, or lost wages.
Just as with a flight cancellation, there are no requirements to provide additional compensation, so you will first need to understand what has caused the delay and is it controllable by the airline.
American is committed to making customers aware of known delays and cancellations. The Flight Status section on American’s website or the phone app are typically the best places to get an updated status of your flight.
The DOT’s tarmac delay rule requires that flights (departing from a U.S. airport) are required to allow passengers to get off the plane if the delay is longer than three hours (for domestic flights) or four hours (for international flights).
Airlines do not have to serve passengers full meals during a tarmac delay, even if the tarmac delay lasts for a lengthy period of time.
As stated earlier, when flying within or from the United States, there are no federal laws requiring airlines to provide passengers with additional compensation when their flights are delayed.
Each airline has its own policies about what it will do for delayed passengers.
American will allow you to rebook on another flight when your flight is delayed for 60 minutes or longer.
However, if you are flying to/from or within Europe, there is legislation called EU Regulation 261. This regulation provides rules and a compensation structure for passengers who experience travel issues like denied boarding, overbooking, cancellations or flight delays.
In Europe, passengers are entitled to a claim (under the law) if a delay or cancellation was within the airline’s control and results in passengers being delayed to their destination by more than three hours.
EU Regulation 261 will not apply if you flight arrives in the EU and is operated by a non-EU airline. It only applies when a U.S. airline is leaving the European Union.
Even though American is not a European airline, they must follow European laws when they depart from a European airport. That means passengers flying on a American flight out of a European airport are protected by regulation EU 261.
If your American flight departing from Europe is delayed, you could be owed up to $700 per person in compensation from American, in addition to a refund of the ticket cost.
If this sounds confusing and you need some help understanding your rights and your potential refund amount, AirHelp is a company that specializes in helping you get the compensation you are entitled to.
It’s always best to first check with the airline directly, but if they are not helpful, you can use a claim company like AirHelp to help resolve the claim. Check out their compensation per airline page so you can find out what you’re owed.
AirHelp can help you get up to $650 in compensation (per passenger) if your flight is canceled or delayed more than 3 hours.
