What if you spent several thousand dollars on tickets and lodging for the Super Bowl and missed it because your flight was delayed or canceled? How do you prepare for this? You could fly out several days early, but you must invest more money into lodging, which can supersede the flight price and possibly make the Super Bowl experience unaffordable.
Sweeney (2022) claim that we have a higher pilot shortage than ever before in history, impacting millions of consumers annually. As half of the pilots will retire within the next fifteen years, airlines are swooping in and stealing pilots from each other. The airline industry took a temporary stall during Covid, which diminished the number of employees and consumer confidence. Once most Americans became vaccinated, the airlines released more flight schedules that they could not staff (Sweeney, 2022).
Chung et al. (2017) showed that staffing shortages led to flight delays, cancellations, or disruptions. The US Department of Transportation (DOT) and some airlines have created incentive programs to reward airlines and employees for arriving at their flights no more than fifteen minutes late (Forbes et al., 2015).
AirHelp. (n.d.) claims that airlines have legal and financial accountability to the air traveler when disruptions within the airline happen, stating that 85% of airline passengers are unaware of their rights. In contrast to AirHelp’s declaration, DOT states that airlines are not financially beholden to their schedule since many factors are out of their control, such as mechanical issues, bad weather, and air traffic delays. For flight delays, DOT encourages passengers to ask their airline for food or hotel accommodations, although the airline is not required to provide them. However, if your flight is canceled, Airlines are legally required to refund money if they do not rebook you (U.S. Department of Transportation., n.d.).
As you prepare to travel in 2023, how will you handle the inconsistency of flights? Perhaps it is better to drive to your destination, but who has time for that?
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References:
AirHelp. (n.d.) Air passenger rights introduction: compensation and beyond. AirHelp. Retrieved on December 27, 2022, from https://www.airhelp.com/en/air-passenger-rights/
· Chung, S.H., Ma, H. L., & Chan, H. K. (2017). Cascading delay risk of airline workforce deployments with crew pairing and schedule optimization: Cascading delay risk of airline workforce deployments. Risk Analysis, 37(8), 1443–1458. https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.12746
· Forbes, S.J., Lederman, M., & Tombe, T. (2015). Quality disclosure programs and internal organizational practices: Evidence from airline flight delays. American Economic Journal. Microeconomics, 7(2), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1257/mic.20130164
· Sweeney, S. (2022). The airline pilot shortage is real and will cost all of us. ABCNEWS. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/airline-pilot-shortage-real-cost-us-brace-impact/story?id=84176369.
· U.S. Department of Transportation. (n.d.) Flight delays & cancellations. U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved on December 27, 2022, from https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/flight-delays-cancellations
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How has Delayed Flights Ruined Your Plans
by Stephanie Daich
