»»Flight Cancellations for May Increased 30% – Transportation Department Statistics
The Department of Transportation has released statistics showing the dramatically increase in flight cancellations.
The flight cancellations for May increased about 30% from the same month last year.
At the same time, the consumer complaints against U.S. airlines rose 23%, with most of it due to canceled flights.
With the recently introduced federal penalties — in effect from April 29 — for airlines that strand passengers on delayed flights for more than three hours, the increased cancellations may be partly the result of airlines trying to avoid the fines, that are as high as $27,500 per passenger.
However, the Department of Transportation has also adopted rules that require airlines that bump passengers to increase the compensation to as much as $1,300 per ticket, depending on how long the passenger must wait for the next flight, up from $800 currently. (source)
