Flight cancelled or delayed? Guidelines you must know

Guidelines for flights cancelled or delayed: Imagine you are in Dubai and your flight back to Delhi gets cancelled five days before the scheduled time. Or your flight gets delayed multiple times on a day when you have to rush home for a family emergency. Well, this is something that keeps happening and passengers are left helpless at the last-minute change. Passengers can assert their rights as per the Passenger Charter issued by the Aviation Ministry and demand alternatives or compensation.

So, what are the guidelines for compensating air passengers due to delayed or cancelled flight? Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation Gen. (Dr) V. K. Singh (Retd) in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on 11 December shared the protocols that passengers should be aware of in such scenarios.

The airline has to facilitate affected passengers due to cancellation and delay in flights under the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) Section 3, Series M, Part IV titled “Facilities to be provided to passengers by airlines due to denied boarding, cancellation of flights and delays in flights”.

GUIDELINES FOR COMPENSATING AIR PASSENGERS DUE TO CANCELLATION OF FLIGHT

I) In case of cancellation, the airlines shall either provide an alternate flight or provide compensation in addition to the full refund of the air ticket.

2)Additionally, the airline shall provide meals and refreshments to the passengers who have already reported for their original flight at the airport while waiting for the alternate flight.

Guidelines for Compensating Air Passengers due to Cancellation and Delay in Flight

In case of delay in flight, the airline is required to provide meals and refreshments, an alternate flight/full refund of ticket to the passenger or hotel accommodation (including transfers)…

— PIB India (@PIB_India) December 11, 2023

GUIDELINES FOR COMPENSATING AIR PASSENGERS DUE TO DELAY OF FLIGHT

1) In case of a flight delay, the airline is required to provide meals and refreshments

2) An alternate flight/full refund of the ticket to the passenger, or hotel accommodation (including transfers) depending on the total flight delay.

The airline shall not be obliged to compensate in cases where the cancellation & delay is caused by a force majeure event i.e. extraordinary circumstance(s) beyond the control of the airline.

Facilities to be offered to the affected passengers in case of flight disruption are already available in the public domain in the form of a Passenger Charter published on the Ministry’s website, CARS on the DGCA website & respective airline website.

Adequate provisions to safeguard the interests of passengers are already in place.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation Gen. (Dr) V. K. Singh (Retd) in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

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