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If a airplane is held for repair, or other delays away from the gate what are the rights of passangers? Being held against ones will seems a violation of the law. With so many 7-8 hr delays away from the gate, passengers must have some recourse.

2006-08-25 04:19:01 · 1 answers · asked by Say Wha? 2 in Travel Air Travel

1 answers

Actually passengers have very few "rights" when it comes to delays. Depending on the airline and its partner network you may be able to insist that you are put onto another flight to the same destination, but it's not as effective as people make it sound. There is a lot of chatter about "Rule 240" which is a former Federal regulation regarding alternate provisions for passengers on delayed flights, with some web sites even recommending you print a copy of Rule 240 to take with you every time you travel. It basically says if the plane is delayed, the airline has to put you on another flight. But it is not a silver bullet; first, the delay has to be completely of the airline's fault, and many repairs do not fall into the "at fault" category; there's going to be regular wear and tear on a plane and it has to be fixed when it's been detected. Further, since it is not a Federal regulation any more and each airline can interpret it how they want, most airlines will only switch you to one of their partners. And in a case like Southwest which has no partners, they don't *have* to switch you to anyone under their interpretation of the rules.

That said, most gate attendants really want to get you to your destination and not mess up any other travellers. Your best way to get put on another flight is to be polite, and to already know what the other flights are, so you can specifically ask "Do you have a seat on Flight 170" or whatever. Yelling doesn't help. And weather doesn't get you any kind of special treatment except maybe a discount at the airport hotels--- no free rides any more!

2006-08-25 05:53:08 · answer #1 · answered by dcgirl 7 · 0 0

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