| | |  Travel & Outdoors | November 2008 
Canceled Flights Could Leave Travelers in a Bind
 Jim Benemann - CBS4
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| | Federal regulations do not require airlines to offer passengers anything if their flight is canceled, which some say is an argument for a Passengers' Bill of Rights. | | |
Annemarie Anderson is packing for a very special trip.
"It's been planned for over a year, and we're really excited about it," she told CBS4.
She and her husband, along with her 3-year-old daughter and 9-month-old son, are headed to Puerto Vallarta for Anderson's sister's wedding. The whole family is going.
"There are people that are going to be there that we haven't seen in over 20 years," Anderson said.
In anticipation of rising fuel prices and an uncertain airline industry, Anderson made her reservations early. In May, she booked four seats on a direct flight from Denver to Puerto Vallarta for a reasonable rate. She got her confirmation e-mails and thought she was all set.
In July, she got a message from the airline.
"She had told me then that the flight has been eliminated from their schedule completely," she said.
Anderson was holding tickets for a flight that no longer existed.
"An airline can lose money on a flight that's not full, so there's tremendous incentive to cancel a flight if it is not full and there is no regulation that requires them to pay compensation," said Dr. Robert Hardaway, professor of transportation law at University of Denver.
Anderson said she was very frustrated then, but the ordeal was just beginning.
The airline offered to refund her the price of the tickets, but then she'd have to find new tickets at a much higher price.
They then offered her a connecting flight that left three days earlier and required a two night stay in Chicago. That flight would mean her husband would have to take more time off work and the family would have to foot the bill for the stay in Chicago.
"There's a lot of cost on our end and forget the convenience," she said.
Federal regulations do not require airlines to offer passengers anything if their flight is canceled, which some say is an argument for a Passengers' Bill of Rights.
"Any Passengers' Bill of Rights would certainly include a provision for compensation for passengers who have been inconvenienced or who have actually lost money," Hardaway said.
But enacting such a bill is a touch sell for an industry that is struggling to stay in the air. And it won't help passengers now.
Anderson spent hours on the computer and on the phone checking and re-checking to make sure her family would get to the wedding on time.
In the end she says persistence paid off, after weeks of calling, the airline was able to get her family on one of the remaining direct flights.
Her advice to travelers this season is to be more thorough than you think you need to be when it comes to making sure that your travel plans are set. |
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