Holiday travel comes with concerns of disruptions

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - After a flood of complaints, the U.S. Government has drawn a line in the sand with airlines. Even with airfares up 40%, millions of Americans still plan to travel for the holidays. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says he’s already working on setting expectations with airlines for what flyers should experience.

”We saw unacceptable levels of cancellations and delays. Now part of that is the result of demand returning, people buying tickets as the economy came back and that’s good news. But the airlines have to be ready to meet that demand.”

Since the pandemic, the airline industry has been trying to balance crew shortages, increased travel demand, inflation, and ever-changing safety measures.

Their struggles have resulted in 39% of people having a bad experience at airport; 65% of people said they had a poor or neutral travel experience; and 8% of people lost money because of flight disruptions.

As a result, the Federal Government recently announced that they’re making airlines pay more than $7.25 million in penalties. That’s in addition to the $600 million in refunds they’ve had to pay back to flyers. While the U.S. Department of Transportation is still working to hold airlines accountable for disruptions, flyers can use the new Airline Customer Service Dashboard to find out what their rights are.

To report a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com

Copyright 2022 KY3. All rights reserved.