Irregular flight operations (or “Irregular Ops”) is the professional term that refers to an unplanned disruption in the normal flight schedule. The unplanned disruption can be caused by any number of factors. Crew scheduling issues, weather, maintenance problems, and the lack of an arriving airplane (among other causes) create irregular ops. Flight cancellations, delays, and diversions are no fun and can derail travel and vacation plans. Because irregular ops affects all passengers at once, dealing with them can be a stressful and frustrating experience. However, knowledge of what to do during irregular ops can help minimize the inconvenience to you.
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Gather Information
The first step in dealing with irregular ops is gathering information. You need to understand several key pieces of information:
- What is the cause of the delay? – Travelers need to understand this. The cause determines what the airline will do and cover in line with their terms. If the delay is plane-related, a tool like Flightaware.com or even some of the airlines’ apps will help determine this. However, for almost anything else the gate agent and the public announcements will be your best source of information.
- What is the prognosis of your current flight? – Second, it’s good to understand what is happening to the status of your current flight. Is it holding steady, or is it consistently moving back? Is a plane at your gate? Is a crew available and waiting? Is the place nowhere to be seen and more delays are likely? Rolling delays (where the estimated departure moves back every 15 – 20 minutes) are fairly common in the airline industry. This often happens when the airline is working toward a solution but hasn’t found one yet.
- Do you have alternatives? – Is this an issue that is only affecting your flight or just your chosen airline? Is this affecting the whole airport or region? If it’s the former, you will likely have other alternatives to get you to your final destination without a significant delay. However, if it is affecting the whole region, you are likely in for a lengthy delay with much fewer alternatives.
Know Your Rights
Know your rights: You are a more powerful champion to improve your situation if you know your rights as a passenger. For example, you may be entitled to compensation, a refund, a free meal or hotel stay. These rights can vary based on the carrier and where you are flying from or to. The terms and conditions of your ticket and the airline’s policy on irregular flight operations govern these rights most of the time. However, many national laws stipulate minimum standards for an airline’s terms and conditions. You get a general idea of the rights from knowing the national laws.
If we or our airline partner fails to operate or delays your arrival more than 4 hours, our sole obligation is to refund the remaining ticket value and any optional fees according to our involuntary refunds policy, subject to our policy for rebooking your delayed/canceled flight.
American Airlines Contract of Carriage – Domestic Flights
Based on the above contract of carriage, you would know that if your flight was delayed by 4 hours you would have the option of getting a full refund of the purchase price if you wanted to. Therefore, if you pursue other flight options and paid for those, you wouldn’t need to wait for the refund.
Similarly, if the flight is delayed overnight to the point that you need a hotel, the airline will find, book, and cover the cost of the hotel. This is not the case if the delay is beyond the airline’s control (such as weather or a strike). See below for the details of this policy (again from American Airlines).
If the disruption is our fault or you’re diverted to another city, and we don’t board before 11:59 p.m. local time on your scheduled arrival day, we’ll arrange an overnight stay or cover the cost of an approved hotel, if available. We don’t guarantee reimbursement for hotel expenses if you book directly without written authorization from American Airlines.
American Airlines Contract of Carriage – Airline-Caused Delays
As shown above, each passenger has some remedies and guarantees provided by the airline’s terms of service. Airlines purposefully make the terms limited and enumerate exclusions for a number of situations. However, understanding these will keep you from spending money on something the airline is going to provide.
Travel Insurance & Trip Delay/Cancellation Protection
There are numerous products for travel insurance and trip delay/cancellation protection. Some of these products can be helpful during irregular ops, but everyone needs to consider their situation, the trip, and the individual product. Travel insurance is designed primarily to protect you from the financial obligation of paying non-refundable trip costs if the trip is unable to occur for a covered reason. The covered reasons include things like sickness or bankruptcy of an airline, but they also include weather delays and strikes. This type of travel insurance can lessen the impact of irregular ops since you won’t have to worry about the financial impact to you if insurance is in place. In my opinion, insurance only makes sense for high price trips that you could not afford to miss.
Another type of travel benefit is trip delay or cancellation protection. Companies sometimes offer this in connection with a travel insurance policy. However, most often a credit or debit card issuer provides this as a card perk. When you purchase a plane ticket using a credit card with the coverage, you get the benefits of the coverage. These benefits can range from completely useless to actually very helpful. As an example, the following is an excerpt from the American Express Platinum card policy for trip delay and cancellation:
Coverage is provided that reimburses an Eligible Traveler for reasonable additional expenses up to $500 (including but not limited to meals, lodging, toiletries, medication, and other personal use items) incurred for a Covered Trip that is delayed more than six (6) hours, if the Covered Trip delay is caused by a Covered Loss. Covered Losses include Covered Trip delays that result from the following:
American Express Platinum Trip Delay Insurance Terms and Conditions
- Inclement weather, which prevents a reasonable and prudent person from traveling or continuing
on a Covered Trip (e.g. severe weather that delays the scheduled arrival or departure of a Common
Carrier);- Terrorist action or hijacking;
- A Common Carrier’s equipment failure, as documented by the Common Carrier; or
- Lost or stolen passports or travel documents.
A benefit like the above would allow you to book any hotel that you wanted, grab an Uber, and go eat without needing to wait on a gate agent to process a voucher for a hotel and meals during an overnight delay. In addition to this being much faster, you are also going to end up somewhere nicer than the cheapest option that the airline would book for you. Knowing that this is available will make dealing with the delay much less stressful and more enjoyable.
Backup Plan
Always have a “plan B”. That is a good rule in aviation as things can go wrong. A good plan B needs some forethought before the trip. But, travelers can also create a backup plan while dealing with irregular ops.
Ideally, travelers should think through what you would do with a delayed or cancelled flight. Is there another flight operating later that day either on the same or different carrier that would be acceptable? Because almost all US airlines offer refunds or travel vouchers for cancelled tickets, the downside of booking and then cancelling if everything works out with your first flight has little financial impact. Consider booking a backup option at the same time you book the original flight. This will hopefully ensure that you receive the cheapest price for the backup option in case you need to take it.
One important note about backup flights: In order to take advantage of this, you need to be flexible about the airline that you are flying on. If you are checking bags, this won’t work. Airlines won’t pull your checked bags off a delayed flight. Airlines remove bags from a cancelled flight only. If possible, use carry-on luggage. This makes you more equipped to deal with disruptions.
Be Proactive
No one is going to advocate for you to get the best option to correct the situation as well as you are. Therefore, it pays to be proactive and solve the situation yourself. Hopefully, you have already been proactive in having a backup plan in place. If so, obviously move forward with that.
However, you may not always have a backup plan, or the disruption is affecting the whole area (like weather). In those circumstances, it’s helpful to identify options that a gate agent may offer you. Are there seats available on an early flight the next morning that you can book? Will you need to stay overnight? If so, book a hotel room early in the process. The longer the delays progress, other travelers will book up some of the other options.
One of my favorite tips is to get in line to talk to the gate agent as soon as possible. While in line, call the airline’s customer service number or look at rebooking options on the airline’s website. Many times, you will be accommodated by one of these two options prior to making it to the front of the line.
Be Patient and Polite
At the end of the day, no one is a fan of irregular ops. Delays and cancellations create more work for gate agents and crew. Many people get irritable and anxious because delays are impacting their plans. Agents have to reaccommodate all impacted people. When there aren’t many open seats on flights, this can be very difficult.
For these reasons, be patient and polite when dealing with the airline employees who are trying to help. The gate agents have a fair amount of latitude when deciding how to reaccommodate you. Being short with someone doesn’t provide an advantage for you or your fellow passengers who need to be reaccommodated. The best approach is to be grateful for the work the agents are doing and give them a “thank you” when you are finished talking with them.
Wrap-Up
In conclusion, dealing with irregular flight operations can be a challenging experience. By staying informed, being prepared, and knowing your rights, you can minimize the inconvenience and ensure your safety. By being proactive, polite, and flexible, you can make the best of a difficult situation and arrive at your destination with your peace of mind intact.
