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Hurricane Helene delay or cancel your flight? What to expect from your airline.

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3 months ago

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Hurricane Helene delay or cancel your flight? What to expect from your airline.

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(This story was updated to add new information.)

Over 900 U.S. flights are already canceled Thursday due to Hurricane Helene, according to FlightAware.

Tampa International Airport, St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport and Tallahassee International Airport in Florida all announced they’ll be closed for the day, but the storm’s impacts extend beyond its projected path.

Airlines began offering travel waivers earlier this week so customers could reschedule their plans around the storm.

Anyone whose flight was canceled is eligible for a refund under Department of Transportation rules. They aren’t, however, entitled to any compensation for delays due to the storm weather is outside the airline’s control.

Here’s what travelers should know about their rights when flight disruptions arise.

Do you get compensation for a canceled flight?

Yes. The Department of Transportation requires all airlines to offer customers a refund if their flights are canceled for any reason. Customers may be entitled to additional compensation if a cancellation is within the airline’s control. Weather, again, is outside their control.

According to the DOT’s consumer dashboard, if Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue or United cancel a flight for controllable reasons, they’re committed to:

  • rebooking passengers on the same airline or a partner airline at no extra cost
  • providing a meal or cash or a voucher for a meal when the cancellation results in a passenger waiting at least 3 hours for a new flight
  • providing complimentary hotel accommodations for any passenger affected by an overnight cancellation 
  • providing complimentary ground transportation to and from a hotel for any passenger affected by an overnight cancellation

Allegiant, Southwest, and Spirit will do all of the above, except they do not rebook customers on partner airlines.

Frontier will not rebook travelers on other airlines, cover a hotel or provide transportation to a hotel for overnight cancellations.

‘Uninhabitable for weeks or months’: Why Helene’s hurricane category matters

What happens if my flight is delayed?

Federal laws do not require airlines to compensate travelers for delayed flights, but carriers have committed to various degrees of compensation for significant delays within their control. Each airline defines significant delays differently, and weather does not count.

If a flight is significantly delayed for reasons within their control, Alaska, American, Delta, JetBlue and United offer:

  • rebooking passengers on the same airline or a partner airline, at no extra cost
  • providing a meal or cash or a voucher for a meal when the delay results in a passenger waiting for at least 3 hours for departure
  • providing complimentary hotel accommodations for any passenger affected by an overnight delay
  • providing complimentary ground transportation to and from a hotel for any passenger affected by an overnight delay

Allegiant, Hawaiian, Southwest and Spirit do not rebook travelers on partner airlines, but offer the rest of the above. Additionally, Alaska, JetBlue and Southwest also offer additional compensation when the flight is delayed by three or more hours for controllable reasons.

Frontier will offer rebooking on the same airlines and a meal, but no hotel accommodations, transportation, or booking on other airlines.

What should I do if my flight is delayed?

Airlines will sometimes offer compensation beyond what they’ve formally committed to with the Department of Transportation.

For instance, according to Delta’s Customer Commitment, “Delta representatives are empowered with the flexibility and discretion to issue the following forms of compensation for passenger inconvenience when individual circumstances warrant doing so: cash equivalents (e.g., gift cards), travel credits/vouchers, and/or miles for SkyMiles members.”

Travel insurance and certain credit card protections can also help offset costs tied to covered cancellations and delays.

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