Amid Delta’s Network Meltdown That Still Has Passengers Stranded, Cantwell Reminds Airline To Comply With the Law

07.23.24

Amid Delta's Network Meltdown That Still Has Passengers Stranded, Cantwell Reminds Airline To Comply With the Law

FAA Reauthorization law spearheaded by Cantwell requires refunds for significant disruptions and 24/7 access to real-time assistance; Delta is falling short in wake of IT outage

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, sent a letter to Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian regarding the airline's operational and customer communications problems in the wake of Friday's CrowdStrike IT outage.

In the letter, Sen. Cantwell noted that Delta's customer service page doesn't give customers accurate information about their refund rights under the FAA Reauthorization Bill spearheaded by the Senator that became law in May. Section 503 of the new law requires airlines to provide passengers with refunds for any flights that are cancelled or experience significant delays or changes.

For example, writes Sen. Cantwell, Delta's refunds page: "makes it appear as though refunds are only available for refundable tickets, when in fact section 503 applies to non-refundable tickets."

Sen. Cantwell also notes that Delta appears to fall short of Section 505 of the FAA law, which finds that "customers should be able to access real-time assistance from customer service agents of air carriers without an excessive wait time, particularly during times of mass disruptions." Multiple news reports indicate extremely excessive wait times for Delta passengers. On Friday, a Delta passenger whose flight from Amsterdam to Seattle was cancelled told the Seattle Times that "the phone number I tried to call said it would be 11 and a half hours before I could speak with somebody."

In closing the letter, Sen. Cantwell writes: "Delta must make clear to all its customers subjected to cancellations and significant delays and changes, including as a result of the technology outage, that they are entitled to refunds as a matter of law. Delta should invest significant resources into its customer service operations to ensure that customers are made whole in short order."

The full text of the letter is available HERE.

Sen. Cantwell authored key sections of the 5-year FAA Reauthorization bill and championed its passage through the Senate. The law, which passed the U.S. Senate on May 9 and was signed into effect by President Biden on May 16, strengthened consumer protections for airline passengers, including standards that for the first time codified hassle-free refunds when an airline cancels or significantly delays a flight.

On May 31, Sen. Cantwell joined Coach Mike Bethea of the Rainier Beach High School Varsity Boys Basketball team to celebrate new consumer protections for fliers.

Over the 2022 holiday season, Coach Bethea and his team were stranded in Las Vegas during Winter Storm Elliott due to Southwest Airlines' operational meltdown. Sen. Cantwell personally helped Coach Bethea and his wife secure a full refund and other reimbursements from the company. The stories of travelers like Coach Bethea and his team inspired Sen. Cantwell to push for stronger consumer protections for airline passengers in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024.

Sen. Cantwell worked for well over a year to finalize the legislation. She first introduced the Senate FAA Reauthorization bill on June 12, 2023, along with Sens. Cruz, Duckworth, and Moran, and the Committee passed the legislation with bipartisan support on February 8, 2024. President Joe Biden signed the act into law on May 16, 2024.

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