Airline companies will have to pay $292 million in refunds to passengers whose flights were delayed during the first six months of the year, according to a study released Thursday.
Approximately 415,800 U.S. air passengers experienced a flight delay from Jan. 1 through June 30, compared
with
260,900 people who were delayed in the same period
last year, according to a report by international flight compensation organization
AirHelp.
The number of people eligible for refunds is up 60 percent. As as result of the uptick, airlines will have to pay $109 million more than the $183 million it compensated customers with in the first half of 2017.
[Also read: American Airlines cuts growth target as fuel costs drag on profits]
The
substantial increase
results from
a variety of factors, including
higher
ticket prices, a lack of pilots, personnel strikes, insufficient airport capacity as the number of flights increases, and summertime travel season surges, according to
the organization
.
Earlier this year, the European Court of Justice decided strikes among airline staff that forced flights to be canceled was means for passenger compensation — previously, they had been considered extraordinary circumstances, which airlines are not legally obligated to compensate passengers for, according to a news release by AirHelp.
Depending on the type of delay and the airline a passenger is flying on, he or she could be compensated up to $700.
Delays where passengers are eligible for refunds and additional pay-outs do not include weather or medical emergencies.
However, Delta Airlines announced in April 2017 it will offer customers up to $9,950 in compensation if a passenger is willing to give up his or her seat.
Delta’s decision came days after
69-year-old David Dao, a physician,
was violently removed from a
United Airlines flight leaving Chicago for Louisville.
United officials had asked for four people to give up their seats and in turn, they would be compensated. When no one volunteered, the airline selected four random passengers. The first three people agreed, but the final person refused, saying he had to get to Louisville because he was a doctor and had patients waiting for him. Officials were then called to the plane, where the faceoff took place.
Video of the incident shows two law enforcement officials forcing the man from his seat, with blood on his face, and pulling him by his arms off the flight.
United also announced employees seeking a seat will have to book at least an hour before the departure time, which would also force any overbooking to be addressed at the gate, not on the airplane. The four employees demanded seats, forcing the airline to bump four paying passengers.
Delta will offer up to $2,000, a $1,200 bump from the $800 customarily given. In addition, supervisors may use their discretion to compensate passengers with $9,950 instead of the $1,350 that was previously the most a manager could give frustrated flyers.
