Dive Brief:
- Major airlines are offering customers travel flexibility after a Federal Aviation Administration order led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights, beginning Friday.
- As the government shutdown continues for a sixth week, the agency is seeing a reduction in air traffic controllers, who have been working without pay. The FAA has ordered airlines to cut flights at major hubs to maintain safety.
- United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines are among the airlines offering a refund or travel waiver to customers with trips planned within the next several days and who choose not to travel, whether or not their trip is impacted.
Dive Insight:
As airlines work to comply with the FAA order to cut 10% of flights at 40 major airports by Nov. 14, carriers are working to minimize the disruption to customers by intentionally cutting some redundant flights and offering flexible travel.
“They're being very intentional about the flights that they are cutting,” said Zach Griff, senior reporter of The Points Guy. “They're cutting shorter domestic flights where there are multiple redundancies in terms of frequencies, so that if they cut the 6 a.m., there's the 7 a.m.”
Meanwhile, airlines are keeping most long-haul flights, like those to Europe that might operate once a day, intact.
Many major airlines are also allowing customers who have restrictive tickets, like basic economy, to get a refund even if their flight isn’t canceled.
“That is well beyond the scope of any flexible travel waiver we've seen, really, since the pandemic days,” Griff said. “But at the end of the day, you know, these airlines generally match each other.”
American issued a travel waiver, offering customers whose flights are canceled for any reason or who choose not to travel between the dates of Nov. 7 to Nov. 14 the option to change their flight or request a refund without any penalty.
United is offering a refund to “any customer” traveling between Nov. 6 and Nov. 13 “if they do not wish to fly — even if their flight isn't impacted,” CEO Scott Kirby said in a letter to staff. “That includes non-refundable tickets and those customers with basic economy tickets.”
Southwest customers who booked travel through Nov. 12 may adjust their travel plans at no cost or receive a refund if they choose not to fly. The carrier is offering that to all customers, regardless of whether their flight is affected.
Delta is offering free cancellations and refunds upon request for flights booked between Nov. 7 and Nov. 14 that travel to, from or through impacted markets, including for Delta Main Basic fares.
Even budget carrier Frontier has put flexibility in place. Frontier is waiving change and cancellation fees for flights booked for Nov. 6 through Nov. 12 and will provide travel credit to those who cancel.
Offering travelers a refund for not canceled flights frees up seats and could help manage frustrations among those who must travel.
“Offering the refund could actually help rebalance the system and make it such that those who actually have to get where they're going get the seats that are left, and those who may be a little bit more flexible on their plans, take the refund,” Griff said.
