On the way, I decided to check the flight status for my Delta Airlines again on my smartphone. The app popped up an on-time departure. I waited about three minutes and decided to refresh the flight status again. To my utmost dismay, a red bar appeared suddenly. 

The status of the flight changed! It started showing ?canceled?, no longer ?on-time?. While I was still wondering if I saw correctly or my eyes were deceiving me, a call came in --- it was from a rep of the Delta Air Lines, confirming my flight cancellation and informing me that I have been rebooked on another flight the following day. I cursed under my breath?what a huge disappointment! I've missed an important business meeting!?Indeed, it's never fun when all your plans come to a halt and damages are done as a result of flight cancellation or even flight delays. But, the consolation is that you can do something to alleviate the damages and pain caused by flight cancellation.

What Exactly is Flight Cancellation?

It is a case where a flight does not leave at all for the scheduled destination. On the other hand, flight delay is a case where a flight of an airline takes off and/or did not land at the scheduled time. In essence, the flight lands and/or takes off later than the scheduled time. However, different airlines may have additions to the definition above. According to FAA – Federal Aviation Administration, a flight is considered to be delayed if it is fifteen minutes later than its original time schedule. 

Flight Cancelations Can Cause Grave Damages

Just like the case cited above, cancellations can be a miserable situation --- travelers become helpless and unfortunate. Some of the reasons for such cancelations include mechanical issues and weather conditions. If you find yourself in this situation, you may be wondering if you have any recourse. Well, typically, you are at the mercy of your air carrier --- your airline, but there are some steps you can take to alleviate the damages.

Be Aware of the Rules as well as Your Rights

 There is no guarantee for flight schedules. And, based on the U.S. law as stated in US Department of Transportation regulations, there is no obligation on airlines to compensate for cancellations or delays --- it doesn’t matter if the airline is at fault. There’s a recent incident where a particular airline announced cancellation of their final seasonal flights going to the United States from Mexico. The airline refunded passengers the fares paid, but didn’t care less about how they will get home. Everyone had to find his or her way. 

Are there Exceptions to the Rules?

Exception 1:

Sure, exceptions are in place when it comes to the no-compensation rule. For instance, in a case where your carrier is U.S. based and it’s taking off from Europe, the European Union rules should apply --- these rules consider the interest of the passenger more than others.

Here’s an instance of this more-friendly rule; let’s say you’re flying from Berlin to New York, and suddenly the flight was canceled. It is likely you would get a 600 Euro payout by the airline in question. This is about $700 dollars --- the rule also applies to flight delay for over 3 hours. 

Exception 2:

There’s also a second exception to the rule. This is the case of involuntary boarding denial --- referred to as

getting bumped from a flight.

One of the major reasons for this scenario is airline overbooking. In the case of this situation, your airline should make arrangement to take you to where you’re going within one hour of the time you were supposed to arrive originally. If the airline fails to do so, you have the right to get $1,350 cash compensation --- it all depends on how long you were delayed. 

Also, here are important things you should keep in mind;

You will not have any claim to additional compensation if you accept to take a later flight rather than a voucher, if a gate agent makes such offer to volunteers. You should also be aware of the exception to being bumped: the compensation rule won’t apply if you checked in late. So, to be on a safe side, you should try checking in 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.Become an informed traveler, learn more about flight cancellations and flight delays compensation. 

Further Reading

Aviation consumer Protection. Flight delay cancelations

https://www.transportation.gov/.../flight-delays-cancellations