DENVER — Even as systems came back online after a global computer outage because of a faulty software upgrade Friday, the impacts were still being felt at Denver International Airport.
Passengers stood in long lines at customer service desks for several major airports Friday afternoon, working to rebook flights that had been canceled or delayed.
Steve On Your Side confirmed with the U.S. Department of Transportation that delays and cancellations caused by the outage are considered “controllable,” which opens up consumers to a range of accommodations offered by airlines in customer service plans filed with the federal government.
If your flight was canceled, you can get a refund if you don’t rebook
It doesn’t matter whether a flight cancellation was controllable or not, if an airline cancels a flight, USDOT policy says customers are entitled to a full refund if they choose not to rebook.
“So, if you booked a weekend trip and now your flight's muddy, pushed out into Saturday, and you're wondering, OK, it doesn't really feel like it's worth even going anymore – you can cancel,” said Sean Cudahy, an aviation reporter with the website The Points Guy.
“If you accept the airline's offer to rebook at a later date, you wouldn't be eligible," Cudahy said. "But that's certainly something to have in mind.”
Because the outage is “controllable," airlines' federal customer service plans activate
Cudahy said passengers who face severe delays should consult the DOT’s customer service dashboard to see what their airline is required to offer because of a controllable delay or cancellation.
“The FAA is considering, since these are vendors that are contracted in many cases through the airlines, they're considering this to be a situation that is something that's technically within the airline's control,” he said.
All major airlines have filed customer service plans with the government in the event of these types of disruptions. You can find their plans laid out at flightrights.gov.
“Consumers would be entitled to things like compensation for meals, ground transportation, hotel night unexpected, because you're stranded somewhere,” Cudahy said.
Airlines offer different accommodations
Bob Smits was waiting near the line to rebook his United flight from Denver to Honolulu to celebrate his 25th anniversary. He and his wife were going to miss a scheduled luau on Friday night but were hoping to get scheduled on a flight Saturday morning.
“It's just like marriage, right?” he said. You got the ups and the downs. And, you know, traveling. The same thing, right?”
United Airlines offers customers the ability to rebook flights on their airline or affiliated airlines at no extra cost. The airline also offers meal vouchers, hotel stays and ground transportation vouchers for travelers stranded in a controllable cancellation.
Down the hall, Te Anna Brown stood near the Frontier Airlines bag check station Friday afternoon, waiting for word of whether her rebooked flight to North Carolina would take off. The family was supposed to fly out at 9 p.m. Thursday, but their flight was canceled.
“I’ve been going back and forth, trying to go to reps and agents, and the customer service line was out of control,” she said. “I have never seen anything like it. You couldn't even see the end of it.”
Frontier’s customer service plan offers passengers a free rebooking only through Frontier, not any affiliated airlines. And unlike Smits’ options on United, Frontier offers only a free meal voucher for a cancellation – no hotel stays or ground transportation.
“Why doesn’t Frontier have more agents?” Brown said. “They charge us for everything. Why can't they pay for more agents?”
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