Do the rules even matter when there is no enforcement action? For many travelers the answer appears to be a resounding “no” as they seek refunds from flights cancelled over the past few months.
Canada has been a particularly challenging environment for consumers, as the government ruled its airlines could refuse refunds on canceled trips, delivering future travel credits instead. But the US Department of Transportation sees things differently. Flights to or from the USA are covered by DOT and the Agency reminded airlines of their obligation to provide refunds in early April, but also made it clear that enforcement would be very limited.
And so customers are stuck. The airlines owe them money and are refusing to pay.
The DOT Complaint option
The DOT operates a website allowing consumers to register their complaints, but the Agency also acknowledges that the goal of the site is not really to solve the problems. Instead, it is about tracking trends:
Complaints from consumers help DOT spot problem areas and trends in the airline industry. Complaints can lead to enforcement action against an airline when a serious violation of the law has occurred. Complaints may also be the basis for rulemaking actions.
And, while airlines are obligated to respond to complaints filed through that channel there is no obligation to fix the problems nor any public record of the incidents.
Moreover, while in the COVID-19 era the commitment to enforcement is even further reduced:
Specifically, the Aviation Enforcement Office will refrain from pursuing an enforcement action against a carrier that provided passengers vouchers for future travel in lieu of refunds for cancelled or significantly delayed flights during the COVID-19 public health emergency so long as: (1) the carrier contacts, in a timely manner, the passengers provided vouchers for flights that the carrier cancelled or significantly delayed to notify those passengers that they have the option of a refund; (2) the carrier updates its refund policies and contract of carriage provisions to make clear that it provides refunds to passengers if the carrier cancels a flight or makes a significant schedule change; and (3) the carrier reviews with its personnel, including reservationists, ticket counter agents, refund personnel, and other customer service professionals, the circumstances under which refunds should be made.
Passengers found a new way to force airlines to respond
But it also turns out there’s another way to fight the airlines, and to make the complaints a matter of public record. The DOT maintains a docket of all actions and decisions. And there’s nothing stopping a consumer from opening up a docket filing to register a complaint, so long as it is properly formatted. Moreover, the docket filings require that airlines respond relatively quickly, an the DOT is obligated to enforce judgements.
A few individuals took that path, filing for themselves in hopes of forcing the airlines to act or the DOT to take enforcement action. The number of these complaints against Canadian carriers is rising as more travelers turn to this approach. And it just might be working. At a minimum, the airlines are engaged again with the customers as they request extensions from the DOT in the timeline to further investigate the cases.
Hoping to secure refunds for everyone
The filings are, nearly universally, specific to a single ticket or trip. But one Canadian is taking the opportunity a tep further. With claims submitted against Air Canada, Air Transat and Sunwing, Simon Cyr is hoping to win big on behalf of everyone affected by these airlines’ refusal to follow DOT policies. As Cyr explained to PaxEx.Aero:
I don’t have tickets caught up in the process. I filed the complaints for the good of the public interest… I’m just hoping to do some good for fellow consumers.
Cyr’s initial claims are, for now, in limbo. The airlines are seeking more time to respond and thus far both Cyr and the DOT complied. Responses are now due next week.
And at least a couple petitioners scored a victory, though not against a Canadian airline.
United bends under the weight of a claim
A United Airlines passenger purchased six tickets from Chicago to Orlando in February for an April trip. Not surprisingly, the trip canceled. And the flight did as well, though United rebooked the group to arrive just under three hours later.
United denied the initial refund request, noting that its policies had changed, allowing it up to six hours in time shift before it was obligated to refund the tickets. An “unofficial” DOT complaint delivered nothing more than that. But the formal complaint eventually did.
While insisting (across 9 pages of a filing) that it is still not obligated to deliver a refund to the fare to this consumer, United finally agreed to do so.
Air New Zealand similarly found itself pressed into compliance, settling an incident after the customer complaint came in, having previously refused.
Overwhelming a system?
That the system appears to be working for consumers is good news. But if this becomes the only means to realize those results and the unofficial complaint process collapses it could spell trouble for the Department. The DOT already is handling massively more complaints than normal. Forcing those into the more formal structure is not good for throughput.
Also, the Docket-based complaints often seem to involve outside counsel (i.e. paid lawyers) getting involved from the airlines. Maybe if the price of handling the cases goes up enough they’ll just start giving out the refunds owed.
Ultimately it is getting results for consumers. And that’s a good thing overall.
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Great to hear the US carriers, at least, are slowly getting the message. I had $2,200 in tickets on UA to Europe for an August trip to Italy and Spain—originally scheduled for April, and bought back in December. I tried to do the “right thing” and reschedule for August rather than asking for a refund, but then found myself in limbo once it became clear US tourist might still not be welcome this summer.
Fortunately I read that UA had recently loosened their refund policy, so the moment one of my segments got dropped, I had the info I needed to ask for a refund. The UA customer service rep handled it within minutes, though she did warn me it would take up to 30 days to process. Still quite a relief.
Glad you got your money back.
Most the US carriers are finally playing nicely. The Canadians are relying on their local regulators that allow them to keep the cash but that doesn’t apply to the US flights, so it is a problem.
I was trying to get home from Thailand and my original return flight was canceled, I’m still waiting for the partial refund promised for that ticket but my main concern is that my 1st attempt to get a replacement flight was canceled about a week after booking it because the first stop was in Taiwan and that government closed the border to foreigners. Not my fault or Air Canada fault. But why am I supposed to swallow the cost? They are not budging on the offer of a credit that can be used within 24 months and only from Thailand. So in order to get that deal I have to fly back to Thailand. I asked if my Thai wife could use it to fly to Canada assuming her visa application is accepted, NO they won’t change the name. So if I end up going back to Thailand so I can Use the credit it won’t be on Air Canada. I finally got home it was via Delta and a very good experience so I’ll use them to go Back if going back is ever available. BTW I asked my bankcard company to open a claim and they did not said it will take up to 55 days to be resolved, not necessarily in my favor. Once that is done and if I don’t get a refund what other recourse do I have? I really want to get a refund. Thanks for your time. Be well.
Air Canada is still fighting these, even with the DOT complaints coming in. It is ugly.
Wife and I booked airfare with Air Canada, with rewards points, the airfare was to a cruise that was cancelled for all of 2020, leaving out of Vancouver for the Cruise, they cancelled all cruises to Alaska in 2020, it was Holland American cruise, this month they sold 4 of their cruise ships, including the one we were scheduled to sail on, and 2021 gone.
with rewards points from Citibank Credit Cards it has been 5 months of fighting, Air Canada has the money, the credit card company has an online voucher for future travel, We have nothing, not even the voucher,
Airlines were forced to give back money and reward points, but that changed.
Originally US dept of transportation demanded Air Canada to replace all money paid and all reward points,
As for the cruise ship also a voucher, would give us $390.00 in extras, but wanted us to pay a second down payment, so they had our money and wanted more, couple weeks ago they sold 4 of their cruise ships including the one we were to go on in 2021,
Seth, I think many of the folks filing DOT Formal Complaints are following the instructions from my web site. See http://www.benedelman.org/dot-complaints/ including comparison of alternative complaint methods as well as links to a complaint template and filing instructions.
You are correct that airline responses are on-the-record and come from an attorney. This can be a way to get a clearer and more useful response than customer service can provide. It’s also open to the public and hence accountable. Kudos to all who take the time to pursue their rights with clarity and rigor.
The following statement is incorrect with respect to Canadat: “the government ruled its airlines could refuse refunds on canceled trips”
No such formal ruling was made. On the contrary, the Federal Court of Appeal confirmed that information on the federal regulator’s website was not legally binding: see Air Passenger Rights v. Canadian Transportation Agency, 2020 FCA 92 at paras 26-27.
I had not yet seen the court ruling; thanks for bringing that to my attention.
But the airlines remain non-compliant and Transport Canada – a/k/a the government – did advise airlines to not issue refunds. That passengers continue to have to pursue their case with foreign regulators is a damning commentary on Canada’s position in this matter.
Please cite where Transport Canada aka the Government quote “advised airlines not to issue refunds”. I believe is to be factually incorrect.
https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/statement-vouchers issued on 25 March 2020 says:
“the CTA believes that, generally speaking, an appropriate approach in the current context could be for airlines to provide affected passengers with vouchers or credits for future travel, as long as these vouchers or credits do not expire in an unreasonably short period of time (24 months would be considered reasonable in most cases)”
Feel free to interpret it differently, but that’s my take from this statement by Transport Canada.
The relevant passage of the CTA Statement on Vouchers is “…CTA believes that, generally speaking, an appropriate approach in the current context could be for airlines to provide affected passengers with vouchers or credits for future travel…”. Saying the airlines don’t *have* to provide refunds isn’t the same as advising them not to. Furthermore, the rest of the Statement shows CTA to basically be a mouthpiece for the industry:
“For flight disruptions that are outside an airline’s control, the Canada Transportation Act and Air Passenger Protection Regulations only require that the airline ensure passengers can complete their itineraries. Some airlines’ tariffs provide for refunds in certain cases, but may have clauses that airlines believe relieve them of such obligations in force majeure situations.
The legislation, regulations, and tariffs were developed in anticipation of relatively localized and short-term disruptions. None contemplated the sorts of worldwide mass flight cancellations that have taken place over recent weeks as a result of the pandemic. It’s important to consider how to strike a fair and sensible balance between passenger protection and airlines’ operational realities in these extraordinary and unprecedented circumstances.”
I purchased my ticket in August of last year, when Air Canada’s Tariff did call for refunds to be an option in the event of flight cancellations for any reason. You can bet in the event that I had experienced a hardship that prevented me from traveling, the airline would have pointed me to the rules and contract and told me “tough luck”, but since the airline is going through the hardship, CTA says the rules don’t really have to apply since they “couldn’t have anticipated this”. This logic ignores the fact that their customers are also going through this hardship and could really use the money the airlines stole from them.
FWIW, I have a DOT complaint in progress since my ticket originated in the U.S. (docket DOT-OST-2020-0074).
For the Government to advise the airline to do something is essentially to compel them to. We are talking about a regulatory body. To advise is to compel. This was clearly a suggestion of what could be an option. The airlines have taken this “suggestion” and run roughshod over consumers.
https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/faqs-statement-vouchers
Do I have to accept a voucher if I think I’m owed a refund?
The Statement on Vouchers suggests what could be an appropriate approach in extraordinary circumstances, but doesn’t affect airlines’ obligations or passengers’ rights.
If you think you are entitled to a refund and the airline refuses to provide one or offers a voucher with conditions you don’t want to accept, you can file a complaint with the CTA, which will determine if the airline complied with the terms of its tariff. Each case will be decided on its merits.
Yes, Transport Canada says pax can appeal the voucher path. But it also explicitly endorses it as a reasonable replacement for the refund that travelers should have receive. Not a mandate, but an endorsed avenue for the airlines to pursue.
It was a very, very bad policy decision for passengers.
What is the process for these docket complaints? I can’t find it anywhere on DOT website
Check the comment from Ben Edelman above. That’s the easiest explanation and guidance.
Derrick, you are correct that the DOT site provides no information about the formal complaint process. The DOT site leads passengers to the DOT’s informal complaint process, which is fine as far as it goes, but lacks some key benefits of formal complaints (including response from an attorney, public on-the-record submissions, more careful review by DOT staff, and greater likelihood of DOT action on meritorious complaints). When I couldn’t find instructions from DOT, I figured this out through careful review of the underlying regulations plus correspondence with aviation expert Edward Hasbrouck and a few discussions with DOT staff. Hence my instructions http://www.benedelman.org/dot-complaints/ . Hope useful to you and others.