Airline passengers, be aware: The Department of Transportation (DOT) has ruled that U.S. airlines do not have to honor their own customer service commitments if a flight is canceled or delayed due to an aircraft recall.
The decision comes after airlines pressed the DOT on whether its consumer protection division would use its powers to compel them to provide hotel rooms or meals to passengers caught in the middle of an aircraft recall.
What does this mean? Even if your airline of choice proudly boasts it offers free hotels, meals, and rebooking in the event of a delay or cancellation, you could still find yourself stranded and alone if a safety recall grounds planes.
Decision Follows Airbus A320 Recall At End Of November
The DOT decided to review its enforcement powers through the
Office of Aviation Consumer Protection, following last month’s mass recall of Airbus A320 family aircraft that saw nearly 6,000 airplanes grounded worldwide due to an emergency airworthiness directive.
The recall was prompted by a faulty software update to a cockpit computer system that was dubbed the ‘Icarus bug’ because the upgrade was prone to interference from intense solar radiation or solar flares.
The only way to ensure the affected aircraft remained safe to fly was to roll back the software to the last tried and tested version, which required planes to be grounded while engineers uploaded the software.
Airlines approached the DOT and pressed it on whether they would be compelled to abide by their own customer service commitments due to delays or cancellations stemming from this recall: such as providing hotel rooms, meals, or free rebooking.
Although the Icarus bug has now been resolved, the DOT has only now answered the question in the form of a Notice of Enforcement Discretion, which states:
“This notice announces that as a matter of enforcement discretion, OACP will not treat cancellations or lengthy delays resulting from unscheduled maintenance in response to an airworthiness directive that cannot be deferred or must be addressed before a flight to be due to circumstances within airline control for the purposes of these types of airlines customer service commitments.”
Airlines Choose Their Own Customer Service Commitments
U.S. airlines get to choose their own customer service commitments, but once they are decided, they generally have to abide by these commitments. If an airline suddenly reneges on its promises, then the DOT can issue heavy fines for every violation, which is generally counted per passenger.
All ten of the largest U.S. airlines currently promise to provide free rebooking in the event of a controllable delay, along with meal vouchers or refreshments for delays that stretch on for more than three hours.
Every airline, with the exception of Frontier, also promises to provide free hotel accommodation to passengers delayed overnight.
These commitments only apply to delays or cancellations that are within the airline’s control, so the question that the DOT was answering is whether an emergency airworthiness directive, which results in unscheduled maintenance that can’t be delayed, is within an airline’s control. We now have the answer.
Decision Applies To Any Other FAA Airworthiness Directive
While the DOT issued this notice in relation to the Airbus Icarus bug, it will remain in effect while the department works on a wider rulemaking that will determine what is and isn’t a controllable airline delay.
That effectively means that if there are any emergency airworthiness directives in the short term, airlines can be confident that they won’t be punished for refusing to honor their customer service commitments.
The DOT does, however, note that the notice “represents guidance and is not meant to bind the airlines in any way,” further stating that some airlines may continue to offer things such as hotel accommodation even if they are not legally required to do so.
How The DOT’s Decision Compares To Europe
The DOT’s decision is very different from Europe, where the bloc’s famous EC261 regulations provide ironclad guarantees to passengers caught up in mass disruption, whether or not the delay or cancellation is the fault of the airline.
Airlines based in the European Union, as well as third-country carriers flying to or from the bloc, must provide passengers with:
- Hotel accommodation for overnight delays.
- Transport to and from the place of accommodation.
- Meals and refreshments for significant delays.
- A free phone call.
These rules apply regardless of the reason for the disruption. Whether it be severe weather, a volcanic eruption, terrorism, or an emergency airworthiness directive, airlines are legally compelled to provide these services to stranded passengers.
Bottom Line
The DOT has issued a Notice of Enforcement Discretion that clarifies whether airlines must abide by their customer service commitments in the event of a mass aircraft recall.
The department has found that a mass aircraft recall is not within an airline’s control and, therefore, they do not have to provide services like hotel accommodation and free rebooking.
