OPINION: Flight delays and missed connections

As often happens when I take a few days off, today I wanted to talk about travel, specifically airlines and what they’re responsible for.

Last week, I headed out to the east coast to meet up with some friends I met while studying abroad. We congregated to Boston, as one of my friends lives in a Boston suburb. I left a day earlier than the official meetup plan so I could see a little more of Boston, which was fun.

However, I’m not here to talk about my trip, but rather my friend’s. We both had flights out of Boston Sunday night, with layovers that were supposed to eventually take us home well after dark. By the time we had arrived at Logan International Airport in Boston, both of our flights had been delayed.

My flight was delayed an hour, with another half hour spent waiting on the tarmac before we actually left. I was still hopeful that I’d make my second flight, as my original layover was over two hours. However, luck was not on my side.

Despite the flight attendants asking passengers to let those of us with connections leaving soon get off the plane first, not everyone listened to that request. I was also in the very back row of the plane, which made matters that much worse. By the time I got off the plane, my flight to Des Moines was supposed to leave in eight minutes. I sprinted to the gate, but the doors were already closed by the time I got there. This was the first time I had every missed a flight before, so I was a little overwhelmed.

With the help of senior editor Cheyenne back home, I got a new flight for the next day figured out, as well as a hotel for the brief amount of sleep I had time for. Newsclerk Mandy also found the airline’s policy regarding missed connections, showing they are supposed to pay me back for that hotel and new flight. By the time I made it back to Creston, it was around noon and I’d had three hours of sleep the night before. However, I was home and eventually wouldn’t be out any extra money for it. Unfortunately, my friend wasn’t so lucky.

The friend had a shorter layover, and even with only a 45 minute delay, we knew she wouldn’t be making her second flight. Of course, the first solution was to look for a later flight out of the same airport, but no such luck. The next flight heading to her home airport didn’t leave until the next morning. Well, that’s fine, she figured. She’d just have to spend the night and the layover city, and since she’d have to miss the second flight due to the airline delay, they’d pay to put her up for a night, right?

However, before she even had the chance to ask about this, the airline automatically took her off that night’s flight and booked her for a flight out of Boston the next day. We were shocked- surely the airline would have to get permission before booking a new flight for her? Apparently not.

During this whole debacle, we also learned that airlines apparently only have to pay for a traveler’s hotel if the delay/cancellation is due to mechanical issues, not weather. Therefore, my friend was on her own to find somewhere to stay that night.

The whole situation confused me. I’ve only ever had one flight canceled, and that was over 10 years ago when I was with my family. While I don’t remember which airline we were using, I do remember our flight home to Wisconsin was canceled due to a blizzard. Therefore, we had to stay another night in the toasty Florida weather… darn! Despite the fact the whole occasion was due to weather, the airline did put us up in a hotel.

It was after midnight a full day later that my friend finally got home. Along with paying for a new flight and a hotel, she missed a full day of work. Though the hotel and flight were because of weather, had she taken the original flight they took her off, even delayed, she would have made it home around the middle of the day. She could have still worked part of the day, but instead she missed a full day’s wages because the airline made the decision for her.

While I’m thankful my situation was covered under airline policy, I’m frustrated on behalf of my friend. And at the moment, I think both of us are ready to swear off planes for a while.