The American Department of Transportation has obtained from three airlines, notably the German group Lufthansa, that they reimburse nearly a billion dollars to passengers for cancellations or significant changes to flights due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It specifies, Monday June 3, in a press release that Lufthansa agreed to return 775 million dollars and pay a penalty of 1.1 million, while its Dutch competitor KLM agreed to reimburse 113.3 million dollars and to also pay a penalty of 1.1 million. Furthermore, South African Airways did the same to return 15.2 million and pay a penalty of $300,000.
Automatic reimbursements
“When a flight is canceled or significantly changed, you shouldn’t have to fight with the company to get your money refunded”, noted Pete Buttigieg, Minister of Transport, quoted in the press release. The flight cancellation rate was less than 1.2% in 2023 in the United States, the lowest level in more than ten years despite a record number of scheduled flights.
The ministry announced on April 24 that airlines in the United States were now subject to stricter regulations regarding reimbursement and compensation of passengers in the event of flight cancellation, modification or delay, or even lost luggage.
Not only must these reimbursements be automatic, but the ministry has also, among other things, precisely defined what a “significant change” : change in arrival or departure time of more than three hours for a domestic flight and six hours for an international flight; departure or arrival at a different airport; more stopovers; demotion from the reserved class, etc.