An interesting article about compensation.
Stranded airline passengers' rights vary widely by carrier.
Not all the estimated 5 million travelers stranded midtrip when an
Iceland volcano triggered a shutdown of most of Europe's airports earlier this month were treated the same.
All of them needed food and a place to stay. But most who booked flights on U.S. airlines had to fend for themselves, while nearly all of those who booked on European carriers had their hotel and food bills covered.
That's one of the challenges facing travelers — and airlines — in the rapidly evolving world of global airline alliances. Allied carriers sell joint and connecting flights as if they're a single airline. But when things go wrong, each alliance member is governed by often very different consumer protection laws.
"There are a lot of inconsistencies in terms of customer care based on geography and the citizenship status of the traveler, or of the airline," says
Forrester Research analyst Henry Harteveldt.
What's needed, he says, are global rules to protect passengers similarly, "given that air travel is increasingly global, and we have airline alliances all over the world."
Why the difference in treatment?
The
European Union requires airlines to cover hotel and meal costs of passengers whose flights are canceled. That's intended to discourage airlines from overbooking flights and bumping passengers.
No such rule exists for U.S. airlines. The only time U.S. carriers are required to pay for disrupted passengers' hotels and meals is when the flight cancellation is caused by the airline.