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Passengers of canceled flights fighting for rights
The debacle cancelled hundreds of flights in Atlanta. While Southwest is offering to reimburse travelers for most hotel and food costs they've racked up, airlines in the US are not required to do that by law. Days of issues have prompted renewed calls for passenger rights.
ATLANTA - After days of travel trouble, Southwest Airlines says it is set to get back to normal operations Friday with minimal disruptions.
For Southwest passengers, it has become a nightmare after Christmas.
"This is probably the worst experience I've had," said Ekram Nafis.
"If I hadn't booked this one, I probably would have had to wait till Saturday," said Shanquayla Johnson.
Nafis is finally home in Atlanta after an unexpected extra day in New York. His Southwest flight was one of the thousands canceled over the last few days.
"The domestic flying experience in the United States is worse than riding local buses in some third-world countries," Nafis said.
While Southwest has vowed to help passengers who were left stranded by the cancelations like paying for other travel, food and hotels, airlines in the U.S. are not required to do that by law.
That is prompting some to renew calls for the "Airline Passenger Bill of Rights" which would guarantee certain protections in case of a cancelation or extreme delay.
"In the United States travelers have shockingly few rights," said Kyle Potter, Executive Editor ThriftyTraveler.com.
Potter covers the aviation industry. He says U.S. passengers need protections similar to those in Europe and Canada.
"I would like to see guaranteed compensation when flights get significantly delayed or canceled as well as a legal obligation on the airline's part to put up stranded customers in hotels," he said.
A Senate bill introduced in 2021 called the "Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights" stalled in committee but included many of the things Potter wants to see. According to the bill, the compensation would only be guaranteed for things within an airline’s control, not weather.
"Until the airlines are held accountable, that there is something enshrined in law to protect the passengers it's going to keep happening," Potter said.
For passengers like Nafis, the protections would go a long way.
"There is no responsibility," he said. "They don't see people as people."
The major airlines have customer service plans and some of these protections are listed in them, but there is no legal guarantee of these rights which is what some think needs to change.
"There have been a lot of these kinds of disruptions that go so far beyond weather that really come down to the airline trying to do too much with too little," Potter said.